Disqualify Drink/Drug Drivers at Roadside

[MontyVeda]

I heard once that cannabis can be detected in the system for up to 30days or something... i don't condone drug/drink driving but it wouldn't be fair to be banned from driving because one shared a spliff at a festival three weeks before being tested

 

[Brandane]

That conclusion sounds wrong, or the story is incomplete/inaccurate.

There is a specific offence of failing to provide a breath/urine/blood specimen for testing, and the punishment is the same for drink driving.

There is also a separate offence for being drunk (rather than "over the prescribed limit") in charge of a motor vehicle, which also carries the same penalties. Presumably to cover the unlikely scenario where someone with a low tolerance of alcohol can be drunk, but below the legal limit. "Drunk" is proven by medical opinion, and in the circumstances outlined in @Electric_Andy scenario, the driver should have been examined by a Police doctor, whose evidence of impairment should be enough to get a conviction.

 

[Dogtrousers]

When was the last time anyone here was stopped randomly for a Police check? I have been driving for 40+ years (averaging about 15k miles per year - car, motorbike, and HGV's for 10 of those years) and it has NEVER happened

It's happened to me twice. But both times were in Finland.

In the UK? Never.

Finnish police put roadblocks up and breathalyse everyone - going for the "morning after" offenders. Their limit is, I think, very low. Didn't bother me as I'm teetotal.

 

[Drago]

I heard once that cannabis can be detected in the system for up to 30days or something... i don't condone drug/drink driving but it wouldn't be fair to be banned from driving because one shared a spliff at a festival three weeks before being tested

That's why there's a threshold level below which there would be no prosecution.

No one is getting knocked off for having a toke whike on holiday three weeks ago, although funnily enough they nearly all claim that in court (it doesn't help them though.)

 

[Jody]

I heard once that cannabis can be detected in the system for up to 30days or something... i don't condone drug/drink driving but it wouldn't be fair to be banned from driving because one shared a spliff at a festival three weeks before being tested

Driver wipes only detect the active metabolites of THC so generally only within a few hours of consumption.

You're right with it being detectable in your system 4 weeks later

 

[Gillstay]

Been stopped twice in the last ten years, once for no MOT and once for different number plates front and rear.

 

[Jody]

Used to get stopped regularly back in the 90's early 00's but not at all in the last 10-15 years.

You just don't see police on the road like back then. They are either panda cars on duty or motorway patrol/armed response every now and again.

Like said up thread, the chances of being pulled if you are driving correctly is slim to none.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Cell phone use as well? Easier to prove too.

 

[Electric_Andy]

That conclusion sounds wrong, or the story is incomplete/inaccurate.

That conclusion is what the police told us. He was drunk and violent at the scene so no sample could be taken. He would not provide a blood sample at the station/hospital due to being too violent. He was already out on bail for something else. They had to drop all charges in the end becasue they had no proof that he was the driver. Even though he was driving alone and fighting with neighbours to get his car keys back so he could drive off. I don't know what proof they needed; video evidence maybe, of which there was none

 

[glasgowcyclist]

That conclusion is what the police told us. He was drunk and violent at the scene so no sample could be taken. He would not provide a blood sample at the station/hospital due to being too violent. He was already out on bail for something else. They had to drop all charges in the end becasue they had no proof that he was the driver. Even though he was driving alone and fighting with neighbours to get his car keys back so he could drive off. I don't know what proof they needed; video evidence maybe, of which there was none

That‘s different from earlier, when you said he got off because “no evidence of drink driving could be obtained.”

Now it appears he was in fact charged and the charges were later dropped.

It still doesn’t add up for me but I appreciate you’re only repeating what you were told.

 

[Baldy]

That conclusion is what the police told us. He was drunk and violent at the scene so no sample could be taken.

AS others have said failing to provide a sample is an offence in it's own right but being violent to hospital staff is far more serious. Should have been jailed for that alone.

 

[lazybloke]

When was the last time anyone here was stopped randomly for a Police check?

I have been stopped twice for a vehicle check

stopped once in about 30 years

Once in 37 years, and that was about 35 years ago

In the UK? Never.

Been stopped twice in the last ten years, once for no MOT and once for different number plates front and rear.

I'm amazed by all the above responses. I used to get tailed and stopped all the time. Usually just a polite reminder about a dead bulb, although once I had to produce my documents at the station - apparently it was wrong for my exhaust to scrape the tarmac and send sparks towards the petrol tank! Have been stopped for having too many passengers, and many times for for driving late at night - especially near international airports. Have also been breathalyzed on numerous occasions (always a 'clear' reading).

Must be something about my cars or the way I drive them; I've also been pulled over many times by UK & French border guards for car inspections, swabbing of handles/boot/etc, and sniffer dog inspections.

Used to get stopped regularly back in the 90's early 00's but not at all in the last 10-15 years.

Glad it's not just me!

 

[Brandane]

I'm amazed by all the above responses.

Must be something about my cars or the way I drive them;

Maybe you shouldn't have been amazed then!

 

[Fastpedaller]

I've been stopped more on my pedal bike than in a car! Only time in a car was when I was puzzled about which way to go at a small junction in rural Lake District whilst trying to find my way back to a campsite in the dark and 'lingered too long'

 

[Time Waster]

Last stop was because one front light was ever so slightly less bright than the other which was brand new. It was just before Xmas and I sad driving home after work. They were taking any excuse to stop people for various checks. Police for drink and drugs if they can detect alcohol on your breath or behaviour indicated it. VOSA for issues with the vehicle. Finally customs and excise for red diesel.

I got a short police woman in boots that were almost as big at she was who tried to sniff my breath for alcohol. I twigged quickly what she was doing when she tried to get a bit in my face. So I stood up straight to my 6'5" height so she couldn't get close. I hadn't been drinking for about a month so was clean but I did it out of annoyance. She laughed and said she obviously couldn't smell smell alcohol on my breath and sent me to VOSA. I then bought a new bulb at the next door garage and the VOSA guy put it in, seriously I couldn't get my hand in that gap,, no way at all! Just wouldn't fit! It was not a failed bulb just an extra bright new one so I was a bit annoyed by the stop that technically wasn't justified!