Islanders join police in drink-driving campaign
Saturday 31st December 2011, 2:29PM GMT.
NINE motorists have been arrested during this year’s Christmas drink-drive campaign.
Police said that four of the people arrested on suspicion of driving while over the limit had been charged and appeared in court, while four were released without charge.
Officers are awaiting the results of a blood sample in the remaining case.
The campaign began on 9 December and continues until 7 January.
Deputy chief officer Ian Morellec said none of the arrests was as a result of road traffic accidents or injury.
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What a waste of time, the Police should be investigating all these unexplained deaths that have been occurring recently. Rather than catching the odd person who’s had a shandy.
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Would you say that if one of your relatives was run down by a drink driver even if he/she had only had a shandy?
You`d be baying for blood and asking where the police were.
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Unexplained deaths? All, if not most, have turned out to be suicides. People killing themselves because they are drug dependent or depressed from living on an Island with no real future.
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I agree with you Mr G.
Sober young men high on testosterone who drive at crazy speeds are far more of a danger on the roads than the odd motorist who drives home after having had one too many. Maybe the police will resolve in 2012 to catch a few more of the former instead of concentrating all their resources on annoying spot checks and Rambo style rampages?
Happy New Year one and all and have a safe and peaceful evening.
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So Mr G ‘a waste of time’ you say, is that what the innocent victims that are killed by drink drivers are to you. You go on to trivialise this further by stating ‘to catch the odd person who has had a shandy’. I think you will find that the four people referred to in the story who have been charged and appeared in court will have consumed more than a ‘shandy’. Well Mr G I hope you and your family dont come into contact with any of those ‘odd people’ that just have ‘a shandy’ and decide to then get in their car, would your feelings be any different to drink drivers if one harmed you or your family?
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Neil
You are looking at the worst case scenario
I think ‘only’ four prosecutions is an indication that the campaign has been successful
Further, none of the prosecutions came about as the result of an accident
ps – I wait with interest to see the GEP reports of the court cases, as certain local residents appear more cavalier in their approach to our motoring laws than others
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nice one neil,also these drivers will not be covered by there insurance,so you can swim for any compensation,you will be the one running around trying to get paid
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Insurers can’t get out of their liability to third parties, even if the insured has committed a criminal act.
They just won’t pay out for the damage to the insured’s vehicle (assuming they were fully comp)
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neil Howie
How many people have been killed by drunk drivers in the last 15 years?
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Pbfalla
I do not see that people have to be killed by drink drivers in order for the police campaign to be justified. I think more the fact that if there had only been just one conviction the police campaign would have been justified. After all, if those four convicted drink drivers had not been apprehended by Police then who is to say they could have gone on to injure or kill themselves or an innocent victim. No i believe what the police are doing should be fully supported and not just the convictions but if it makes just one person think twice before having a drink and then getting in their car then its justified in my book.
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pbfalla,
How many people would have been killed by drunk drivers in the last 15 years if the law was not being enforced?
There is no excuse for drinking and driving on an island of this size, the majority of people live within an hour or so of town and are quite able to walk home after a drink.
Anyone who drinks and drives shows a complete lack of common sense and they deserve everything they get.
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Neil Howie and Kevin
What nonsense replies,im pretty sure that everyday someone is driving over the legal limit,lets get some figures on how many people have been killed by drunk drivers ?
My guess more have been killed by people not over the limit.
Infact id go as far to say some drivers who have had a drink are better drivers than many who havent touched a drop
Its just a police state fad,when you can produce facts and figures on the number of deaths then we can talk
Otherwise
Step out of the box and take a view
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pbfalla,
The only people talking nonsense are those that think drinking and driving is acceptable,you obviously fall into that category.
But then having seen your previous comments on many other posts thats about all I’d expect from you.
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Kevin
You have still not provided the number of deaths caused by drink drivers,lets make it easier for you
In the last 50 years,how many,this will cover the period when such draconian measures were not in place
We drink we drink we drink to Lily The Pink The Pink The Pink
Kevin the reason is you dont have any facts
Its time you stepped out of the box
Wasnt a issue in the good old days
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pbfalla,
I can give you one fact – its time you stepped into a box, preferably one without a p.c in it to save the rest of us reading your drivel.
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kevin
Thats a typical response when someone cant back up their comments
I know for a fact that you cannot produce evidence in guernsey
Drink to drink to drink to lily the pink the pink the pink
I will await another excuse of a reply from yourself
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To PBFalla,
Have you been drinking sir??? maybe i am reading this wrong but i am starting to get the impression that you feel that drink driving is acceptable.
A friend of mine was seriously injured by a drink driver, who was so bladdered he was unaware that he had hit a person and dragged them down the road under the car! now can you say that this would have happened had the driver been sober…..i doubt it!!
I agree with your comment about more people being killed by drivers not under the influence of alcohol but feel it doesnt really make any point whatsoever!
i think you should step back in the box and get real!!!
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he is an idiot and a troll. ignore him.
there is no point trying to understand any rational argument in his posts, as he is not posting in order to make a rational argument
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I’m inclined to agree with you there, in fact i would go as far as to say the plonker (nicest word i could think of) in question is rabble rousing and has a fair amount of time on his/its hands!
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Mr G
I think if you actually bothered to find out, most of the unexplained deaths have been people sadly committing suicide in private residences. I don’t know about you but I don’t have a crystal ball and I don’t think the police would either so how are they meant to prevent these deaths. I am sure the police shouldn’t be taking full responsibility and it is also an issue for healthcare and mental health professionals. Why do people keep bashing the police at every opportunity? They are simply trying to cut down on drink driving which is a killer and this has been shown over many years of terrible accidents. Remember that prevention is better than cure. Just because one of those drink drivers didnt crash and kill someone doesnt make it right. Sad that someone has to dig at the police at every opportunity!
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If they were suicides they would be recorded as suicide, NOT unexplained death.
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eddie41
I think they are classed as unexplained deaths by the police until the coroner makes the final decision
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Hope they noticed his rather cool black and no silver number plate!!! ha ha
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Comin At Ya, Thank goodness there are some sane people on the island. Drink drivers should be hunted down and dragged kicking and screaming to the nearest tree and hung before some innocent victim is killed by the likes of one of the fools on this board who think drink driving is exceptable.
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So how would you deal with old drivers who are likely to cause an accident then?
Oh, of course, it’s ok because they do no harm. Try telling that to the chap in the Alliance car park who got run over by an elderly driver
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pyer,
The difference is that the elderly drivers would probably not go out and drive home after a couple of pints.
I wouldn’t deny that some elderly drivers do have accidents and possibly shouldn’t be driving but they don’t generally chance breaking the law and increasing the risk of an accident by drink driving.
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kevin
Many elderly drivers break the law each time they venture out on the roads by virtue of the fact that they are not capable of being fully in control of their vehicle at all times
However their inability to drive competently cannot be quantified, unlike a breathaliser reading
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Neil. What melodramatic claptrap. Drink driving used to be considered acceptable because it was safer than walking home. I realise times have changed but your statement pretty much hints that you think anyone who gets into a vehicle after consuming alchohol, is guaranteed to have an accident and/or kill someone. I don’t risk it at all anymore but there are different degrees of drink driving. A couple of years ago I watched an experiment where they proved driving while tired is equally as dangerous as driving while drunk. Do you suggest hanging anyone drving while tired too? Just for starters thats a lot of new parents, sleep deprived by their recent newborn whom you are suggesting we should hang from a tree.
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Well personally I agree with Neil. I can’t actually believe how many of you are trying to justify drink driving. Thousands of people have been killed by it in the UK alone. Why don’t you just accept it!
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I too have to agree with Neil! It is stupid to try to justify driving whilst intoxicated! It is illegal as it is not safe to drink and drive, for the driver, pedestrians, and other road users.
And PBFALLA, I am glad that the future of our island’s children does not rest on your shoulders, or we would all be driving whilst drunk and blaming the police because a pedestrian stepped out in front of us and damaged our car!
Some opinions on here that try to excuse and justify drink driving are genuinely worrying and disgraceful.
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Whilst I don’t condone drink driving at all, saying people should hang from a tree because they committed a driving offence is beyond rational thought and extremely childish, we don’t need it in this island thank you very much.
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Surely the only unexplained death is where the coroner declares an open verdict. The police cannot decide what category a death falls into – only the coroner. Historically the police seldom comment on the cause of a death even though they may well be aware of that – in the case of suicides it is the decent thing to do as far as close family are concerned.It allows them, to some degee, to come to terms with their loss before the full circumstances are there for the public to see.
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It surprises me that people still take the chance and drink and drive. Surely it is simple enough to leave the car at home or get a taxi back from the venue of the evening. I fully support the police on this one it is not underhanded they broadcast it openly every Christmas that they will be carrying out checks. It is easy to go down the fatality route as defence but it doesn’t justify people drinking and driving! Perhaps these people that don’t bother worrying about it also have this view on insurance and infact a driving license at all I mean if they drive better after a drink why would they possibly need these!!!! Anyone who can’t have a drink and leave the car or not have a drink and drive home may need to look at their dependence on alcohol and how this drug is effecting their mental attitude! In other words for the people too drunk to understand you have an alcohol problem and I feel sorry for you and your families!
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I don’t understand why if you commit a drink drive offence in Guernsey the courts think you should recieve 3 years off the road, whilst if you commit one in Jersey its 12 to 18 monthes and less still in the Uk.
Surely an enlightened and caring society should show forgiveness and clemency in its justice. Only repressive regimes think excessive punishment is a way to control its citizens.
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Maybe they have got it wrong and not us?.
Someone posted that there are thousands killed in the UK every year. I wonder if there laws are working? seems not.
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If Guernsey folk only follow a law because of fear of punishment, then something is wrong with our island society.
Retribution is important, in that justice is seen to be done. But drink driving (until you’ve crashed) is a victimless crime, and should be punished as minor issue.
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NOBODY SHOULD BE GETTING BEHIND THE WHEEL WHILST UNDER THE INFLUENCE.
I used to drink a lot and always walked home 3 – 4 miles.
I have woken up in a douit, a graveyard, a beach, a golf course, someone else’s garden and on a shed roof, God knows where I would have parked a car.
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For goodness sake, Frankie, you may have killed someone with your bare hands.
While I do agree you shouldn’t get behind the wheel when you’ve had too many drinks, the punishment is ridiculous. Can someone let me know who the deputies are in favour of these harsh punishments so that I make sure I don’t vote for them in the upcoming elections?
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Interestingly, the ban is only a year in Alderney even though we are part of the same Bailwick is it any less serious there then?
Why have I never seen anyone from Sark convicted of Drink Driving,surely it’s as dangerous to drive a tractor after a skinfull, and I can’t believe in that no one has ever done it.
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Man appears in court,
Judge: “Mr Falla could you explain to me where you were headed in your car on the night in question”.
Man: “I was driving home from the Rockmount to town”
Judge: “And can you justify doing this whilst being 10 times over the legal drink drive limit”
Man: “Well your honour, I was too pissed to walk.
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I wonder how many of the folk on here saying that drink driving doesn’t matter would get on a plane if they knew the pilot was p*****d?
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Well said Donkey Doo!!
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I completely forgot to mention this to Mr PBFalla before but i remember reading a study about the effects of driving whilst under the influence of alcohol/drugs where they actually tested subjects that had different ‘mind altering’ chemicals in their system.
Alcohol was deemed to be the worst by a huge margin with the subject paying no attention whatsoever to what he was doing whilst driving aggressively at high speeds.
The bit that really surprised me was to read that the other test subjects were given, LSD, Amphetemine (speed) and cocaine! which i would have assumed to be far worse as these are all illegal substances!
I think we should do a test where Mr Falla stands in the middle of the road and i will drive toward him after drinking 20 pints and we shall see how that pans out for him!! :)
Final word…..PBFalla is a plum who doesnt know what the f**k he is talking about!
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To add to your information.
A longterm US study on the influence of cannabis on drivers compared them to both normal drivers and drivers that had had 1 drink.
The drivers that had taken cannabis were better drivers than the normal everyday drivers.
Obviously the drink drivers were by far the worse – in this study they failed to notice 3 times as many possible accidents in the testing scenario.
The study concluded that, cannabis drivers are entirely aware of their surroundings and also aware that they are under the influence, hence the average attention and responses are heightened as the drivers actively concentrated on every second of driving.
Ever found yourself looking at something whilst driving along then finding the traffic has stopped infront of you, so you slam on the brakes…..this is very common, how often do daily drivers focus on what they are doing 100% of the time.
I suggest like always on here, people actually do some research of their own, its all available with ease nowadays on the internet.
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research into what???
it is plainly obvious that drink driving is dangerous. any talk about other distractions or other influences is irrelevant.
you may as well look for research to confirm that sticking needles in your eyes is painful
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The bit that really made me laugh was the guy on acid couldn’t say his own name but could operate a motor vehicle better than some bloke who was p***ed up!!
The only problem with driving after smoking a bit of the ‘ol’ mary jane is the time it takes to get anywhere as you end up going at 5mph whilst listening to Bob Marley munching on choc!! (that was such a bad generalisation of dope users)
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I hope all those posting here aren’t tempted to take to the wheel when they catch a cold!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8991755/Motorists-with-heavy-colds-as-bad-as-drink-drivers.html
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Interesting reading. Especially the attitude that some have on its OK to drink and drive. A little odd, I wonder what age group have this archane attitude to drink driving. As for the comment about commiting suicide because your island is a dead end, no hope place to live, really does amuse me, you have one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the British Isles, and Ok sometimes you may get bored living on your rock but he sure beats the hell out of some places on offer over here in the UK. Stop moaning and get a life!
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http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=om9qq2d4DRk
Just don’t do it!
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