Drink driving ban

[Noodley]

why did the police treat her differently because she is a nurse?

I cannot understand that one either.

Maybe it's just part of her 'story'?

 

[Davidc]

That is what I took as my assumptions when I first read this thread. That the woman drank 2 glasses of wine at 14% and they were 250ml.

I think your assumptions, and comment on them, are reasonable - I also wondered when I first read the thread.

Taking the stuff I do I reckon that I'd take roughly 10 hours to be driving legal after the 70ml of alcohol that would give. I would allow at least a day (or drink less).

She had longer than 10 hours and we've not been told of any known factor slowing metabolism of alcohol. Perhaps there is one; if not she'll likely be convicted.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

They've all said they'll vouch for her as far as they can go.

is this wise? do they really know her well enough to be dragged into this? if it turns out she does have 'the illness' won't they look a bit foolish in front of the bosses?

 

[PaulB]

why did the police treat her differently because she is a nurse?

They always do. A high proportion of coppers are (or it used to be the case anyway) married to nurses and the two professions meet regularly in a professional capacity. When my wife crashed in Manchester earlier this year, once the coppers found out what she did, their attitude changed dramatically. They had her sit in their car 'til I arrived (the other two motorists were both stood outside in the freezing cold) and they were extremely sympathetic to her plight even going so far as to offer her good legal advice. It's also maybe to do with the fact that they routinely come into contact with the scum of the earth and so they treat anyone out doing good in a different manner. Quite rightly so too, in my opinion.

 

[PaulB]

is this wise? do they really know her well enough to be dragged into this? if it turns out she does have 'the illness' won't they look a bit foolish in front of the bosses?

My wife is the boss and she employed this woman and has never had a single moment's doubt about her. Being a nurse and having seen alcoholics and their sneaky behaviour and also having personal experience of a close relative who died an alcoholic, you'd go a long way to fool her, which is probably why I posted it as it came as a shock. She trusts the woman and at the moment, wants to give her the benefit of any doubt.

 

[Noodley]

Quite rightly so too, in my opinion.

What a load of bollocks.

 

[PaulB]

What a load of bollocks.

Whoooooooooooh

 

[marinyork]

Contrary to popular belief (and some of the urban mythology displayed in Wikipedia) there are relatively few reasons for people to have a registerable blood alcohol level except that they have been drinking. Even those medical conditions which may naturally create alcohol in the blood stream do not normally create it to the extent that it exceeds the legal limit for breath samples.

Even if this was the result of a natural phenomena, you would still have to ask whether it is appropriate for someone who's breath alcohol level was so high should be allowed to drive? The limit is set at 35 for a reason - that is the maximum at which it is considered safe.

The chances of this being a naturally occurring phenomena are remote. I hate to be harsh, but the probability is that this woman has an alcohol problem. Alcoholics can be very disingenuous when they need to be - I know, having had to deal with them on a professional basis, and my partner (who is a consultant psychiatrist specialising in alcohol abuse) will tell you the same. They will swear blind that they haven't been drinking - even when you catch them at it, and they have all sorts of tricks to try and cover their tracks. A classic is if they keep toothpaste or mouthwash in their desks and are constantly cleaning their teeth (also a sign of eating disorders).

I'm afraid my reading of this case is this is someone with a problem who's been caught. Luckily it was through an incident where no-one was hurt - it could have been a lot worse.

Nobody on here has suggested otherwise, infact several people have written more or less that. The issue is definitions "relatively few", "registerable" and "remote". I think they are a bit lax. In anycase nobody worth their salt would apply probabilities to reach a definitive judgement. It could be sorted out with further evidence.

 

[Blackandblue]

My wife came home very upset last night as they've got no option but to fire one of her team. This woman had gone to do a home visit at 2pm on a child and the child's brother had crashed into her car on his bike. Kid and bike are fine but a neighbour called the police. The police breath-ed her and discovered she was at 60 (legal limit 35) and were shocked as they couldn't smell alcohol and she was coherent and unconcerned about being bagged. As she was a nurse, the police bent over backwards to help her and assumed their machine may have been faulty so they went to the trouble of bringing in another machine from another patrol car but this gave the same reading and naturally their attitude changed. Now my wife was in the same office as this woman all morning and can vouch for the fact she hadn't had a drink and isn't known to drink more than socially anyway. The woman swears blind, and everyone who knows her believes her, that she had two normal sized glasses of wine the previous evening and yet she shows up at almost twice the drink-drive limit at 2pm the following afternoon!

So as her job depends on her ability to drive, she'll be fired as there's a mandatory ban and she'll be lucky if it's only a year. Just shows how alcohol affects different people in different ways, doesn't it?

I may be applying for a post at the Ministry of Stating the Bleedin' Obvious but she could have downed a vodka or two at lunchtime?

I don't really have anything else to add to what has been said on this thread other than I, too, suspect she has a drinking problem.

 

[Noodley]

Whoooooooooooh

Wold that be the type of bag she keeps her bottle hidden from her gullible colleagues?

Face facts - she got caught. Your wife and her colleagues feel like mugs so would rather try to make excuses. As do you. Cos not all people who commit offences are 'scum' - hard for you to take I'm sure.

 

[Cubist]

They always do. A high proportion of coppers are (or it used to be the case anyway) married to nurses and the two professions meet regularly in a professional capacity. When my wife crashed in Manchester earlier this year, once the coppers found out what she did, their attitude changed dramatically. They had her sit in their car 'til I arrived (the other two motorists were both stood outside in the freezing cold) and they were extremely sympathetic to her plight even going so far as to offer her good legal advice. It's also maybe to do with the fact that they routinely come into contact with the scum of the earth and so they treat anyone out doing good in a different manner. Quite rightly so too, in my opinion.

That's OK as far as theories go. Then again cops have a saying "There are two certainties in life: Death, and a nurse."

 

[PaulB]

Wold that be the type of bag she keeps her bottle hidden from her gullible colleagues?

Face facts - she got caught. Your wife and her colleagues feel like mugs so would rather try to make excuses. As do you. Cos not all people who commit offences are 'scum' - hard for you to take I'm sure.

Point out where I'm making excuses for her. I'm telling you what I know about it. And I never wrote people who commit offences are scum. I wrote the police routinely come into contact with scum. Surely this isn't hard for you to come to terms with?

 

[SavageHoutkop]

Hmmm I've never been breathalysed, and don't own a car at the moment anyway, but I have always been curious to see how many drinks I could drink before officially being over the limit. I'm a fairly petite lady, so I suspect I'd be over with even one 'drink'.

I didn't know about the Salbutamol interference either. I'm asthmatic and while normally controlled (thanks to avoiding household chemicals, and pets...) I do occasionally use them (usually when visiting friends with either household chemicals or pets!).

Finally, as a complete aside, I really and honestly do use Vodka as a mouthwash. No, I don't swallow. How long would that take to clear out of my mouth???

 

[Blackandblue]

Finally, as a complete aside, I really and honestly do use Vodka as a mouthwash. No, I don't swallow. How long would that take to clear out of my mouth???

What??

 

[Cubist]

That's OK as far as theories go. Then again cops have a saying "There are two certainties in life: Death, and a nurse." Then again cops have healthy respect for all members of the caring professions.

There you go User, fixed it for you! (unless of course you weren't going to argue!)