Yes, sometimes it is worth reporting ...

[Clitheroekid]

I thought it might be encouraging to hear that sometimes reporting things to the police does get a result.

I was driving home last night, when I came up behind a car that was being driven, to put it mildly, rather erratically. As I approached him he braked for no apparent reason and almost came to a stop in the middle of the road. I flashed him, and he drove off, but he was weaving across the road – on a couple of occasions he was driving on the wrong side of the road, and actually clipped the kerb on the opposite side of the road, before weaving back to the correct side.

I phoned 999, and was put through to the local police. I then gave them a running commentary for the next 15 minutes or so, as the guy was heading in the same direction as me.

At one point he pulled over and stopped, so I went past him. I arrived at a red light 100 yards later and looked in my mirror to see that he was back on the road, and approaching me. I was actually rather apprehensive, as he didn’t seem to be slowing down, and I was mentally bracing myself for the hit. However, at the last minute he swerved to the right and overtook both myself and the car in front of me, sailing merrily through the red light.

The car in front of me turned left, so I was again following the miscreant. He again mounted the pavement a couple of times, and then jumped another red light.

All the time I was describing his driving to the police, and they said they had alerted patrols. However, he then started driving much more quickly, well over the speed limit, so I soon lost sight of him.

I was a bit miffed that I hadn’t actually seen any police cars, and that he would probably have got away with it.

However, about half an hour later I received a call from a mobile number I didn’t recognise. it was by now well past midnight, so I was a bit dubious about answering it. I did so tentatively, and it was a local PC, who said they had just arrested him, and that when breathalysed he gave a reading that was more than three times the legal limit.

He thanked me for my assistance, and I went to bed a happy man!

[Lootman]

Thinking about the one time I really should have been caught for drunk driving, it was before the age of mobile phones. The other driver who accused me of being drunk would, these days, have whipped out his phone and photographed me, my car and number plate, called the cops there and then, and the chances of me being caught would have been much higher. As it was, I just drove off.

That said I was nothing like 3 times the limit and in fact I cannot imagine being able to walk at that level of intoxication. Reminds me of the time a friend got very drunk at a dinner party at my house and announced he was driving home. We all tried to dissuade him but to no avail. He left.

The next morning I went out to get my newspaper and, sure enough, 100 metres from my house, was his car parked with my friend slumped across the wheel, passed out. Might just have saved his life, or someone else's.

[Gerry557]

There was a police programme on TV yesterday with a similar story. It included some of the commentary of the 999 caller.

The police caught up with the driver expecting it do be drug or drink.on this occasion both tests passed fine. I wasn't really concentrating on it but I think there was some navigation excuse for the erratic driving.

The police allowed him to continue after a warning why he was stopped.


At least you might have saved a life by your actions.

[bluedonkey]

These days erratic driving can be due to mobile phone use while driving.

[bungeejumper]

A very long time ago, I'd had three pints in five hours at a party - a level which my police friends tell me was close-ish to the limits of the time but would probably have put me over if I'd been of a small build. (Trust me, I'm not - my ancestors were blacksmiths, and they'd have downed that much beer as a mid-afternoon refreshment.... )

Anyway, we headed off home some time around midnight, and we were driving (carefully!) down an unlit country A-road when oh my god, here was a body lying in the road in front of us. To cut a long story short, it was a young heroin addict who'd collapsed in a heap - his bag of chips was still warm in his hand. And he could just about talk. It was quite lucky that we hadn't deprived him of the opportunity, permanently.

We got him to safety and called the police. (Which entailed driving on to a phone box - there, I said it was a long time ago!) To cut another story short, it was the third time in four days that he'd been found like that, and the cops knew him as Jim. They told us that Jim was circling the drain in more ways than one, and they thanked us for being alert enough not to have hit him in the near-total darkness.

But they also engaged me in a ten-minute chat, to establish whether I was winging it on too much alcohol? Apparently satisfied that I wasn't, they didn't breath-test me - not least, I suppose, because they had more important things to do with young Jim.

It was a bit of a wake-up call, though.

BJ

[Lootman]

A very long time ago, I'd had three pints in five hours at a party - a level which my police friends tell me was close-ish to the limits of the time but would probably have put me over if I'd been of a small build.

I am not small either and back in my youth 3 pints was my rule of thumb about driving. I would still drive above that on occasions but I knew that I was taking a risk and was careful. (But not too careful as apparently driving too slowly and carefully is a sign to cops that you might be impaired).

A friend of mine was caught because he stopped for a McDonald's on his way home from the pub and the employee at the restaurant rang the police on him. The cops apparently told her to delay the order until they got there!

So don't count on third parties not caring even if they are not civic-minded off-duty solicitors.

[didds]

A very long time ago, I'd had three pints in five hours at a party - a level which my police friends tell me was close-ish to the limits of the time but would probably have put me over if I'd been of a small build
BJ

Im struggliong with that assertion you were given.

Multiplke caveats of this being very general.
Several assumptioons

* started with zero alcohol in your system
* not an empty stomach ie food
* standard beer of the time

1 pint = 2 units.
3 pints = 6 units
body processes 1 unit per hour
5 hours = 5 units processed

L:ea]ving 1 unit in the blood steam.
Standard approach years ago was 2 pints was "the limit". Not even allowing for processing of those units in the time to drink two pints, that's 4 units.

1 unit wasnt even close.

[servodude]

A very long time ago, I'd had three pints in five hours at a party - a level which my police friends tell me was close-ish to the limits of the time but would probably have put me over if I'd been of a small build
BJ

Im struggliong with that assertion you were given.

Multiplke caveats of this being very general.
Several assumptioons

* started with zero alcohol in your system
* not an empty stomach ie food
* standard beer of the time

1 pint = 2 units.
3 pints = 6 units
body processes 1 unit per hour
5 hours = 5 units processed

L:ea]ving 1 unit in the blood steam.
Standard approach years ago was 2 pints was "the limit". Not even allowing for processing of those units in the time to drink two pints, that's 4 units.

1 unit wasnt even close.

Those assumptions would hold for 3.6% ABV beer
There are plenty where you'd be a lot closer to the actual limit

[Lootman]

Im struggliong with that assertion you were given.

Multiplke caveats of this being very general.
Several assumptioons

* started with zero alcohol in your system
* not an empty stomach ie food
* standard beer of the time

1 pint = 2 units.
3 pints = 6 units
body processes 1 unit per hour
5 hours = 5 units processed

L:ea]ving 1 unit in the blood steam.
Standard approach years ago was 2 pints was "the limit". Not even allowing for processing of those units in the time to drink two pints, that's 4 units.

1 unit wasnt even close.

Those assumptions would hold for 3.6% ABV beer. There are plenty where you'd be a lot closer to the actual limit

Are there any beers still widely available that are 3.6% ABV? My idea of a weak beer is something like Bud Light or Miller Light. The UK versions are about 3.5% ABV, although I'd rather drink the urine of a dehydrated goat.

[jfgw]

Last time I was breathalysed (unusual situation, I hadn't been driving, it was to make sure that I was OK to), I had just finished consuming two one-pint cans of 4.5% Hobgoblin over a period of about two hours. The test result was "Zero".

Our bodies are not all the same; maybe my liver is fitter than most people's (I like to give it regular excercise ).


Julian F. G. W.

[Imbiber]

Recent changes to the duty rate means a brewer pays less than half the duty on a 3.4% beer than on a 3.6% beer. Many draught beers have changed from 3.6 to 3.4. According to some brewers this is to meet the demand for lower alcohol beers

[Lootman]

Recent changes to the duty rate means a brewer pays less than half the duty on a 3.4% beer than on a 3.6% beer. Many draught beers have changed from 3.6 to 3.4. According to some brewers this is to meet the demand for lower alcohol beers

Ah yes, the so-called "Session" beers.

I am the opposite. Being older than dirt, I can no longer drink large volumes of beer. I do not have the stomach capacity and I'd be peeing all the time.

So instead of the 5/6 pints I might have downed of an evening in the 1980s, now 2 or 3 pints feels right. And that for me means a stronger beer because I still want to feel some elevation of mood.

And beer strengths are much higher than they used to be, presumably due to the growth of craft beers and the popularity of American IPAs in particular. 5% to 6% is not unusual.

[bungeejumper]

Last time I was breathalysed (unusual situation, I hadn't been driving, it was to make sure that I was OK to), I had just finished consuming two one-pint cans of 4.5% Hobgoblin over a period of about two hours. The test result was "Zero".

LOL, I had a zero result from a roadside (digital) test in France. It was nothing personal - the flics were testing every second car that came down the road, as they are empowered to do. But then, have you seen the French statistics for road deaths?

The zero result was a nonsense really. Everybody has the equivalent of a single whisky in their system all the time, even if they're lifelong teetotallers. Fermentation, dontchaknow? By zero, the police's readout meant that my breath alcohol was too low to be worth doing anything about. (Yes, it really did say zero, impossible though that was. )

Have to say that I'm a bit flummoxed by the idea of a pint containing only 2 units, even for a session ale. But this particular party had been held in Zummerzet scrumpy'ead territory. I could probably have stuck with orange juice and still gone over the limit on the fumes.

BJ

[DrFfybes]

Those assumptions would hold for 3.6% ABV beer
There are plenty where you'd be a lot closer to the actual limit

That is one of the issues for us 'oldies'.

40 odd years ago 3.5-3.8% was about the norm, so a couple of pints of an evening tended to be just under the limit.

Boddies, Lees, Robinsons, Thwaites, etc were all that sort of level, ISTR thinking Taylors Landlord was strog (looked it up, 4.2).

Back to CK's observation of police response times - it's the same with everything these days - even seeing someone comitting a burglary won't get them there quick unless there's someone local just finishing a job.

Paul

[Gerry557]

These days erratic driving can be due to mobile phone use while driving.

Or just driving generally but trying to miss a few pot holes

I believe the police only stop drivers that don't swerve about these days

[Dicky99]

Well done on potentially averting a horrendous outcome.

I also had cause to report something yesterday. A neighbour and I discovered a very elderly, distressed and confused lady wandering around in the street who we recognised but didn't know personally. She almost certainly has dementia.
She was locked out of her house with no keys but her ground floor window was open. So the other neighbour got in through the window to open the front door. By now there were 3 of us neighbours in her house looking for anything which might have phone numbers on, trying last number redial on her phone etc.
In the end after about ten minutes of debating what to do one of the others called the police for advice as the lady was distressed at being left alone. Half way through the conversation I said "I can hear someone upstairs" at which point a sleepy African looking woman came down stairs. She seemed completely unphased and unapologetic at the group of people in the house or that the woman in her care had been wandering around in the street while she slept upstairs.
I reported it to Social Services and they seemed to be
genuinely very concerned so I hope the lady will be reassigned a more diligent carer.

[didds]

Those assumptions would hold for 3.6% ABV beer. There are plenty where you'd be a lot closer to the actual limit

Are there any beers still widely available that are 3.6% ABV? My idea of a weak beer is something like Bud Light or Miller Light. The UK versions are about 3.5% ABV, although I'd rather drink the urine of a dehydrated goat.

Yes. beer < 3.6% still widely available.

And of course the OP was referring to an incident from "a very long time ago" when a standard house ale would be about that ABV - a premium bitter would be about 4-4.2%

[didds]

Those assumptions would hold for 3.6% ABV beer

Yes. The OP said "a very long time ago". Ive been drinking beer since about 1975 and their really wasn't much readily available in quantity at an ABV much above that 3.6% until; much more recently. Premium ales in a pub around the low 4% area. Or barley wines or the like but you'd probably have a diabetic hyper if you managed to drink 3 pints of that sort of stuff it was so sweet.

[didds]

And beer strengths are much higher than they used to be, presumably due to the growth of craft beers and the popularity of American IPAs in particular. 5% to 6% is not unusual.

Indeed - and they are readily available including off licensed venues.

Though the OP was talking about "a very long time ago" of course in his anecdote of three pints in five hours.

OOI...

3 pints of 6% ABV = 10.2 units
5 hours = 5 units "burnt"

residue = 5.2 units.

Going back to that general rule of thumb of 2 pints = 4 units, that implies a wait of another 1.2 hours would be "OK" (obvious caveats here).

If that beer was
5.5% - 9.28 units, 4.28 residue, 0.28 hour left
5% - 8.52 units, 3.52 residue. "Clear".

(figures from http://www.cleavebooks.co.uk/scol/ccalcoh2.htm)

Obviously I am not condoning "winging" it! I am however suggesting the original advice from the OP's learned chums was ... overly cautious.

[kiloran]

LOL, I had a zero result from a roadside (digital) test in France. It was nothing personal - the flics were testing every second car that came down the road, as they are empowered to do. But then, have you seen the French statistics for road deaths?
BJ

Reminds me of a french comedian I saw on the telly in France back in the 80's.....He said that road deaths in France are nothing to do with alcohol. Only 10% of road deaths are due to drunk drivers. The other 90% are caused by sober drivers. The police are chasing the wrong people. Get the sober drivers off the road, and we'll be much safer.

--kiloran