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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that you shouldn't drive following 2 glasses of wine.....?

61 replies

Thankyouandgoodnight · 01/10/2008 21:06

DH says you metabolise one unit of alcohol an hour, so you can have 2 glasses if you don't drive for 2 hours (or one hour after the last glass if you had the first one an hour before that).....is that right?

OP posts:

Awordofwarning · 02/10/2008 17:52

Also, on the rehabilitation course DH did, there were a number of people all with different circumstances -- there was a woman who had a couple of glasses of champagne and got stopped whilst she had her 2 DC with her. There was the man who'd had a boozy night, drove to work the following morning and got done then. There was also the man who was at a work's do, couldn't get into a hotel and decided to count the units he'd had to drink and the time he'd been there for. Obviously that one didn't work out.

It sounds like it's going to be easier said than done, but please try and find a way to persuade your DH that his arguments do not stand up - they are incorrect and are based on ignorance of the law and the effect alcohol has on the body.

I said in my previous post that it was a nightmare when DH lost his licence. It was. It would've (could've) been far, far worse though if he'd had an accident and someone had died as a result of his stupidity.

SaintRiven · 02/10/2008 17:55

surely its possible to have a fun time without alcohol when you know you'll be driving.
I wish it was no alcohol. Too many people are killed or maimed by drunk drivers who think their reactions aren't impaired.

CountessDracula · 02/10/2008 17:57

yy but I know what the limit is
I don't think a 250 ml glass counts as a unit
When I drink wine I have a small amount in the bottom of a large glass.

Blondeshavemorefun · 02/10/2008 18:08

ditto count

a small glass of wine and made into 2 sprizters

its not as if we are drinking bottle of wine and then driving

Bridie3 · 02/10/2008 18:19

There are a hard core of people who are causing 85% of the accidents. They are not just drinking two glasses of wine. Go and hunt them down and try to shame them.

I actually drink very little most of the time (a bottle of wine lasts more than a week in our house). But on Saturday night when I go out to dinner seven miles away (no taxis, no buses, no trains) I will probably drink a glass of wine. I may even drink two 125mls glasses over the course of three hours. With a meal.

And then, because it is legal, I will drive home.

Nobody walks home or cycles home where we live--it's too remote, zippi. And I'm pleased to say that the cows and sheep are usually tucked up in their fields.

In thirteen years living out here I have hit one rabbit at 11am having not (obviously) drunk. I have had a clean driving licence for my entire driving career of 23 years. Not one single point. Ever. I haven't made an insurance claim for seven years and that was because someone drove into me when I was stationary.

You're simply chasing the wrong folk here.

Awordofwarning · 02/10/2008 18:48

Bridie, the police are also chasing the 'wrong folk' too. Two glasses can be too many. Just because there are people who drink more than you and then drive (in cities/towns or in rural areas) does not automatically put you in the right.

Bridie3 · 02/10/2008 21:49

If the police 'chase' me they will find that I am under the limit, Awordofwarning. Because I do not break the law.

Oneglassandpuzzled · 02/10/2008 22:44

Well, if she's not drinking over the limit (and it sounds like she is careful about this) she's keeping the law and is actually in the 'right', isn't she?

Awordofwarning · 02/10/2008 23:12

You miss the point I made earlier. It is impossible to tell whether or not you will be over the limit after consuming alcohol. So however careful Bridie thinks she is being, she could still be over the legal limit. And whether you live in the country or city makes not one iota of difference when it comes to the law. Best to take one of the following options - have a few drinks & stay over; have a few drinks & get a cab (whatever the cost or how far they have to come); have a sprite and drive home safe in the knowledge that you cannot be over the limit.

EightiesChick · 02/10/2008 23:31

I am another non-drinker if I'm driving because even if I had a couple and was still legally OK, I do not want to take the chance of an accident, hurting either me or someone else. It's just not worth it - doesn't matter whether others are 'getting away' with more. I will be the one who has to live with myself afterwards. I like a drink but it's not that important. Plus as awordofwarning has said, the bother it would cause if I lost my licence isn't worth contemplating. DH is the same.

blueskythinker · 02/10/2008 23:48

Actually, all those who say it is 'legal' to drink and drive are, to some extent, mistaken. There are two main drink driving offences;

Driving with excess alcohol - which is where people derive the opinion of '2 units of alcohol and I'm OK' from.

However, there is another offence of driving whilst unfit through drink or drugs. This offence does not rely on a 'legal limit' but instead looks at the manner of driving. So even if someone has had 'only' 2 units, if their driving is impaired, then they could still be prosecuted.

For those who say, 'whilst it is legal I will continue to drink X glasses' there is still a moral issue at stake. The fact is, that very few people get into their cars intending or expecting to have an accident - but these things happen, and they cause devastation to families. Could you really forgive youself?

Sawyer64 - I have read that poem before, yet it still brings me to tears.

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