to think the problem lies with people drinking too much

[Northernlurker]

To explain: recently a young man disappeared in our city after a night out. It has been reported that he'd drunk in a number of pubs and likely was somewhat intoxicated. A few days later his body was found in the river.

This is a terrible tragedy for his family and I can understand they feel a need to do something - however what they've chosen to do is speak out calling for large sections of the river to be fenced off. We are talking here about a shallow river with next to no current (waterlilies grow in the summer!) that any adult falling in to should be able to extricate themself from assuming usual health. It doesn't need to be fenced off for public safety because the vast majority of the public are at no risk whatsoever.

AIBU to feel really sad that an opportunity to point out to people exactly how much danger being drunk can put you in is being missed here?

Yes, if you are pissed and do stupid things then quite frankly, it is your fault.

When my DH isn't home from a night out at the time I'd expect (3am...) then I do get hysterical thinking he has fallen in the harbour - we have a very large industrial harbour very near the city centre, as well as a big river.

However, if he did it would be because he was absolutely smashed.

YANBU - people seem to think we can prevent every tragedy, but sometimes this requires people taking some responsibility for themselves.

You have a good point. Last year, 2 teenagers died in Newquay. Both were drunk and both fell off the cliffs. One family started campaigning for all the cliffs to be fenced off .

Now whilst it is indeed a tragic loss of a young life, i don't really think the cliffs are to blame. Thousands of us manage to live down here and NOT fall off cliffs. And there are hundreds of miles of cliff - where do you stop the fence?

Newquay itself has plenty of problems with underage drinking: this needs addressing along with some harder hitting education about alcohol for teenagers.

to be fair, i think the river in question could use a bit better barriers around it, not for the drunk adults, but in case a small child falls in. However shallow it is, its still very dangerous to toddlers etc.

And i know toddlers and children should always be supervised, but accidents do happen.

Do people who go to A&E with drink related injuries face a charge in the same way that you do if you go in as a result of road accident (assuming that you still do)?

Either way, YANBU.

youremindmeofthebabe - would you also like all of the coast line to be fenced off??

NorthernLurker - yes, we are forging forward to a complete nanny state because people can no longer look after themselves - the more the state nannies, the worse it gets. The UK is getting DIRE for this.

I never understood the whole excessive drinking culture. I mean, I enjoyed a 'few' drinks on a night out but can only remember one occassion where I felt out of control of myself, I always avoided that situation because I hate that feeling with a passion. I had friends who would go out with the sole aim being to get past bladdered...what is the point? They pissed a lot of money up the wall (and being guys they would take the mick out of me for spending money on clothes ), did some incredibly stupid things and wrote the next 2 days off with a hangover. Bizarre.

Now that makes me sound like an old woman...all before the age of 30!

youremindmeofthebabe-
seriously, think about what you just said. lets fence of all the rivers, ponds, streams. and dont let kids have a bath, after all you can drown in so little water.
come on.

NorthernLurker, completely agree,

if you drink too much, you are putting yourself at risk. end of.
[disclaimer:not applying this to assault]
[isnt it sad i have to write that because MN has become so hysterical about everything?]

bet someone will come on now-well pubs should have stricter rules on how much drink you can have blah blah blahhhh.

One of the girls I work with told me that she spends £80 on a night out drinking double vodkas. She goes out at least once a week.

BritFish absolutely agree. And maybe all cars should have pillows wrapped around them, and no walls should be built higher than 3 feet .

And further to my previous point about Newquay, i should add that some of the cliffs are already fenced off. One of the teenagers that died last year actually climbed over the fence. So it doesn't help anyway does it, esp for drunk invincible types.

MammKernow
and all small sweets should be banned because they are a choking hazard. especially really delicious ones. like Skittles or M&Ms.

yeah fair enough, BritFish,i hear what you're saying. This particular river is in the middle of a city centre, and my reasoning behind my post was that children could get separated from parents easily and thus wander off and be in danger.

Obviously i have no wish to see most water fenced off from people on an off-chance.

Plato said that if you committed a crime whilst drunk you should be punished for the crime AND for rendering yourself drunk enough to do it in the first place.

I entirely agree with you. If you're stupid enough to get so drunk that you do something stupid, others should not be punished for it.

In effect, he rendered himself incapable of acting like an adult. The quote "Gene Police! You - out of the pool!" springs to mind.

youremindme - are you thinking it was the big river where this happened? It wasn't - it was the little river and he ended up near the big river - iyswim. Afaik all the bits with longer drops to the little river that are city centre located do have fences - but the more surburban bits don't.

Oh, i thought it was the big river!

Oh, furk, just ignore me then.

belledame emergency treatment is free and available to all at point of need. It's one of the basic principles of the NHS. I find it hard to imagine A time when victims of RTAs were charged for treatment.

kat, I wasn't charged for treatment but I was sent a bill after I'd been to A&E (it was 1984 though!!) as I'd been involved in an RTA. I was told I could claim it from my insurance company. It was an NHS hospital.

Belle my ex was sent a bill after he went to A&E after a RTA. This was 1992.

To OP YANBU

It's about time people started taking responsibility for themselves.

And I think they should have to pay for any resulting treatment or at least pay a fixed cost. Why should we foot the bill for their stupidity?

I once did something Very Stupid and nearly drowned. I was on a course (I am a nurse) in a city with a marina and harbour. I had been out clubbing with a number of other nurses

We thought it would be a good idea to go for a paddle. It was dark, I was drunk and I stepped over the edge of what I thought was a paddling pool. Actually it turned out to be a marina and very deep and cold.

Thankfully (I am virtually a non swimmer) one of the men was slightly less inebriated and dragged me out but I was very very stupid.

I think we have to understand ourselves as a nation. It's all very well looking at the French and the Spanish and saying, they have a more relaxed culture, they have access to drink and it's OK, why not us...?

Well, we are NOT the French or the Spanish, and they are not us. I think the time has come for us, as a nation, to understand that we do have a 'drinking problem'

A nation is only the sum of it's parts, and if you were to look at the UK as a person, that person would have to attend AA. When he/she has a drink, it goes to his/her head and he/she gets lary and potentially violent. He/She seems incapable of knowing when he/she has had enough, and it's affecting his/her life and how others around him/her see him/her.

The Govt decision to repeal the drinking laws and allow all day drinking was the most idiotic and nonsensical idea ever.... It is of no shock to me that we can't enjoy our town and city centres anymore, that drink fuelled crime and violence has risen, and the Police are struggling to cope and the NHS is groaning under the strain of it all.

The reason we had supposedly draconian drinking laws in the first place was down to the fact that we were at war and the Govt needed us to be sober to build bombs, make bullets and planes etc.

This nannying will be the end of us as a nation. We have to impose responsibility onto the individual, we have to rid ourselves of the sueing culture, and the 'it wasn't me!' mentality. However, as a first step, we need to radically reduce access to alcohol.

No booze in supermarkets, no booze anywhere except pubs and properly run off licences. Is it Sweden or Norway that do this? We need bigger fines for being drunk in the street, we need some kind of FPN for anyone causing injury to themselves or others as a result of being intoxicated. Why shouldn't we charge someone for taking an ambulance when they are drunk? Why should we all pick up the bill for the hospital treatment cos someone got bladdered and hurt themselves or someone else?

I'm all for self regulation, but this generation seems to have lost all self control, we need to go back to grass roots to re-instil responsibility back into society. Only when it's been proven that a nation can handle itself and drink, can the regulations be relaxed.

Oh cripes, didn't mean to write an essay