Drink driving - what should the punishment be?

[Taz]

If someone is caught drink-driving, what is a suitable punishment for them? I've just seen a news article and it seems that drink-driving is on the rise after a steady decline over many years.

To start the ball rolling, I think that there should be an automatic 12-month ban, a £2000 fine and a requirement for the offender to retake the driving test. The alcohol limit for prosecution should be reduced slightly as well.

I also think that insurance companies should take a very dim view of a ban when the driver is eligible to drive again and needs to re-insure his/her vehicle.

I cannot see any reason whatsoever to consume alcohol and get behind the wheel of a car.

[specofdust]

I reckon we should just ban the consumption of alcohol in all public places, that way reducing passive death by alcohol, I.E. drunken driving accidents..

[pak000]

I reckon we should just ban the consumption of alcohol in all public places, that way reducing passive death by alcohol, I.E. drunken driving accidents..

So I could if i chose go to a friends, consume some alcohol, then drive home? That doesn't make much sense

Any drink drivers should be heavily punished, I'm against jail time - they are getting overcrowded, but a large fine and a ban for 12months, maybe 3 strikes and your out - caught more than three times in your life, then a permanent ban

I drink and I drive, but I never go near my car when even a drop of alcohol has crossed my lips

[specofdust]

Your right, it doesn't make sense that you should be able to have it in private property but not in a public house, but then, it'll still save lots of lives, because people wont be able to drive home drunk from the pub, because you wont be able to serve alcohol in the pub.

[TheAnimus]

Most drink drivers are ment to be male according to a TV news statistic, so about castration? I've only ever meet one girl who would drive drunk, and she is a goose stepping moron who i'd place against the wall for a range of other offenses. The arragoance stupidity and sense of something to proove seams to be a prodomodantly male trait.

[herulach]

banning alcohol is a daft idea and will never happen, think of all the sun readers, they might have to actually entertain themselves.

Id say instant 12 month ban, there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for drink driving, its not like you can accidentally do it.

[KermitTheFrog]

Not sure about the castration point but drinking and driving doesn't need to happen. It doesn't help the prices of soft drinks are just as expensive.

But is the problem the lack of education, rather than making the sentance worse - does that solution ever really remove the problem. Shock tactics do work - rather than a slapped wrist, look at the smoking adverts.

Also on the point of mainly male position I know several woman who drink drive, and think they are fine, but if they do then I'd rather walk home!

[TeePee]

Remeber that currently the penalty is determined not just by your actions but by the results.

One week a drunk crashes into a wall... The next week there's a child standing in front of it. This raises a huge other issue, should justice simply be revenge? But if not, then how can somone who scrapes a wall get life, or somone who kills by their recklessness not?

[badass]

Remeber that currently the penalty is determined not just by your actions but by the results.

One week a drunk crashes into a wall... The next week there's a child standing in front of it. This raises a huge other issue, should justice simply be revenge? But if not, then how can somone who scrapes a wall get life, or somone who kills by their recklessness not?

Not completely true. If someone who happens to be over the limit hits someone killing them and its not the drink drivers fault, they get no worse a punishment than if they just got caught drink drving.
IMHO the current rules are fine.
Also, remember people if you drop the limit any further, you're not just at rist the morning after, you might be at risk the evening after!

The problem with the increase is because instead of having police cars on the road, they have speed cameras. Speed cameras dont catch drunk people.

[Swafe]

To start the ball rolling, I think that there should be an automatic 12-month ban, a £2000 fine and a requirement for the offender to retake the driving test. The alcohol limit for prosecution should be reduced slightly as well.

I also think that insurance companies should take a very dim view of a ban when the driver is eligible to drive again and needs to re-insure his/her vehicle.

A ban, OK, but retake their test? There not bad drivers, their the same as everybody else, just intoxicated, if they were driving loopy thats the drink, not their experience, give michael schumacher 10 pints and he wont drive in a straight line - but if he was sober and stuck to the rules, it wouldnt make him a bad driver.

And as for the point about insurance companies, they do take a dim view already, if you get caught expect your premium to sky rocket - if your a young driver when its exspensive already to insure, it can go to levels where its not worth paying, thus you dont get to be insured If it was 2 grand before, after I'd expect it to be about 4-5 grand if you got caught, so they almost do stop you driving.

[TeePee]

Not completely true. If someone who happens to be over the limit hits someone killing them and its not the drink drivers fault, they get no worse a punishment than if they just got caught drink drving.

I assumed driving into a wall was the drivers fault. I guess if the wall jumped out....

[herulach]

I assumed driving into a wall was the drivers fault. I guess if the wall jumped out....

Or if the brakes failed, or if you had to swerve to avoid something, or if the road was icy or if.....

[XA04]

At pubs, regulars (who drive, and need to show a full UK driving licence) should have an account, and they get credit everytime they go there... and after a certain amount of time they get free offers.. like taxi rides home.

Obviously they wouldn't be able to use it every time as they need to build credit up, but at least say.. every 1/5 times they go to the pub they drink drive 1/5 times less.

[TeePee]

Icy roads and swerving can be assumed to be the drunk's fault. He's drunk and can't control the vehicle properly, or went too fast on icy roads. How do you prove otherwise?

[tim_n]

The rules and methods of enforcing drink driving is inheriently and badly flawed.

You cannot measure accurately the amount of alcohol that will affect everybody, neither can you actually test for it on the roadside.

Here's the scenario. I pull onto the side of the road and spay some breath freshner into my mouth before moving on to pick up my date who's just round the corner. As I pull off, I get stopped and roadside tested. Because I have alcohol on my breath, I can easily trip the breathaliser. I've drunk no alcohol and I'm not drunk. Similarly if I leave the pub after drinking half a beer, any reading taken within 30mins is likely to be a false positive.

Scenario two, I drink a pint, my girlfriend drinks a half, now who should drive? My girlfriend is paraletic on a half, I on the otherhand I am fine.

Either which way, tiredness is _probably_ a bigger killer in conjunction with alcohol!

I'd rather see: More police, better training and more power to stop wrong doers.

I'd even like to see pub landlords have greater power - perhaps issuing a driving ban to someone who drinks in their pub over the limit for a number of hours afterwards. In the result of an accident or the driver being pulled over there could be no excuse that they didn't know they were over the limit. Unfortunately something like that would require state enforced ID cards which I'd rather never saw the light of day!

[Big RICHARD]

I personally believe drink driving is on a par with attempted murder.