Research

Convicted Driver Insurance

DonkeyKong

Established Member
Something I’m working on needs a bit of data. It’s around preventative measures put in place to stop people committing crimes. Given that all of us here knew that there was a compulsory ban for drink driving. And that the ban, loss of license could lead to loss of job, house, family, etc... Did anybody who has done this weigh up the consequences before they did what they did? I’m guessing the answer is no ... nobody decided that having a drink was worth the risk of losing their job/home. There was never any cost/benefit analysis done. The question is... say the minimum sentence for being caught drink driving was lifetime imprisonment without parole. Would that have prevented you doing what you did? (My feeling is that it wouldn’t make any difference.)
 
There are 3 things I would point out about your question.
Firstly, if the punishment for drink driving was severe, it would guarantee that many more people would run away after causing a collision.
Secondly, most of the drink drivers that I have met on a course agree that drink driving is a stupid thing to do. This is a very sober thought. The problem is that when you have had a few drinks you think completely differently and are prepared to drive. I ask them “what is the most important thing to remember?” They think it is “don’t drive home after drinking.” I then tell them the most important thing to remember is to ask: “how am I getting to the pub?” Because if they drive there, they will find a reason to drive the vehicle home after drinking. The decisions should be made BEFORE you drink......
Thirdly, there will always be those PEOPLE who are convinced that they are safe to drive the morning after, when common sense should tell them that the ‘alcohol fairy’ cannot possibly have eliminated all the alcohol from their system.

Sadly, no matter how much education TTC deliver, we will never be out of business because people will always make crap decisions after drinking!
 
Thanks for replying. This forum is keeping me sane to know I’m not the only stupid person on the planet. I absolutely know drink driving is wrong and needs to be prevented. But my point was, I don’t think it matters what the deterrent is, because you simply don’t consider it when you have a beer-addled brain. To take it to extremes, say the penalty for drink driving was the electric chair. It would have still made no difference. For there to be a difference, you have to accept that you weigh up consequences and make an informed decision. But that never happened.

If I drink drive and get caught, I will be put to death.
If I drink drive and get caught, I will lose my license, and potentially my job, my house, my family.

The latter above is true. But no-one surely ever considered it as a good risk?
 
The issue with drink driving is the same with most other driving offences.

Firstly, the chance of something going wrong is actually quite small, albeit higher than driving sober.

Humans are really bad at assessing risk in that scenario, both overestimating their own skill and underestimating the statistical chances of a collision, injury or death.

Of course in hindsight you realise it was a stupid decision but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The best form of deterrence would be to make people feel it is more likely they will be caught. Many years ago I was stopped twice at random police stops late at night on roads just outside towns. One time I was breathalysed because I (truthfully) told them I'd had a half glass of wine three hours earlier.

I don't know if they do less checks now or whether it is just chance, but if people were stopped about once a year at a random check it would probably make people think twice. It would be better if procedures were simplified so that rather than having to stop someone, get reasonable suspicion they have been drinking, etc. they could just ask you to blow, zero, thank you sir, on your way in thirty seconds.

Also stop police giving you the tube as a "souvenir". You should get a little bag of Haribo instead.
 
TipsyNurse said:
The issue with drink driving is the same with most other driving offences.

Humans are really bad at assessing risk in that scenario, both overestimating their own skill and underestimating the statistical chances of a collision, ....
I don't know if they do less checks now or whether it is just chance, but if people were stopped about once a year at a random check it would probably make people think twice.
.
Click to expand...

I do appreciate you and others taking the time to reply... but I still don’t agree :-D. Here’s what didn't happen... for me and I’m betting most others.

- Considered how skillfull I was, and deciding my skills are so good I’ll be fine.
- Considered the statistical chances of a collision, and dismissing them because they were unlikely.
- looking at how many people are stopped, and how often, then dismissing it as unlikely.
- looking at the consequences of a lost licence and how it would impact on mine and family’s life.

Here’s what did happen.

- considering absolutely nothing whatsoever because you’re not capable of rational thinking.

I’ve been on the forum for a while now, and got some time still to go. The stories are the same, over and over again. The excuses and rationalisation are the same ... depression, anxiety, falling out with friends/family, losing jobs, financial worries, only travelling a mile or so, didn’t realise you were pissed, etc. These are all after-the-fact attempts at explaining the situation. The losing of your driving license is devastating, and can potentially ruin your live. Everybody already knows this. I didn’t make a conscious decision to drive after weighing up the risks/consequences. So, more chances of being stopped, more statistics of the damage it does, and greater penalties ... even ridiculously harsh ones... still would make absolutely no difference to the “decision” to drive since there is never really a decision in the first place. You can’t educate-out the inability to think properly.
 
I think, probably, the majority of DD miles are done by people with chronic alcohol problems who take a calculated risk. You don't hear those stories because people don't generally seek help online and disclose they drove home from work drunk every day, and to be honest were probably over the limit in the mornings too.

My Dad, who had severe alcoholism, used to drive to work and back home from Hertfordshire to South London undoubtedly over the limit both ways. He was caught once, in 2005, and simply continued driving. I used to have a manager who openly did very similar

If anyone caught the first time you ever drive whilst over the limit you are statistically very unlucky.
 
The various courses I’m on are saying you could be over the limit as a man on 6 units (depending on obesity, metabolism, eating, liver function, etc, etc.). So wouldn’t that suggest vast amounts of normal (not alcoholics) people are constantly driving over the limit? I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t, or doesn’t have a couple of pints at lunchtime, or after work then drive home. The other stat I got from DID was that the average drink driver has probably been over the limit 50-75 times before they actually got caught.

I’m researching because I need to understand what the hell was wrong with me. The actual consequences of being convicted are much much worse than I’d ever considered. But I cant pretend I didn’t know it would be bad. But that still didn’t stop me making the worst piss-poor decision I ever apparently made.
 
But as I said as humans we are really bad at evaluating risk for low risk activities because we always think it won't happen to us - or of course in reverse for high reward activities when you think you have a real chance of winning the lottery.

That is needed on life which is why we are biologically programmed that way. You would never leave the house if you totted up all the things that can go wrong. If you aim to never make an irrational decision again that you regret in hindsight you are setting yourself up for failure I'm afraid.
 
TipsyNurse said:
... humans we are really bad at evaluating risk for low risk activities because we always think it won't happen to us... -
Click to expand...

Do you get the point I am trying to make? I never thought it "wouldn't happen to me. " I never thought *anything*, full-stop. There was NO "if I do this, this might happen" consideration. I am driving myself mental with this :-( The odds of winning the lottery are 45 million to one against. So, it is entirely pointless to enter it. THAT decision is done with a sober brain, and is a reasonable assumption. The other decision.. "if I drink drive and get caught, my whole life will be screwed" ... never happened... because if it did... I'd never have done it.
 
Last edited:
DonkeyKong, I think that you just have to accept that it happened.... you cannot undo what is in the past.
What you need to consider is how you are not going to be in the same position again, which takes me to the point that I made before - if you are going for a drink, think “how am I getting there?” Not “how am I getting back?” Because if you have the car with you, you will either find the excuses to drive or, as you said, just do it without thinking!
 
Thank you Price. I have already gone from drinking mostly daily, to only weekends. By the time I have to take my CDT test, I won't have drunk anything whatsoever for at least 6 months, possibly more. There is no way I will gamble with failing this test. It may well be that once I've had 6+ months off, I might never start again. Regardless, I'll never, with a sober brain, have anything whatsoever before driving. The best feeling in the world must be being breathalysed and knowing you have 0% to blow. It's the "with a sober brain" that worries me. It was WITHOUT a sober brain that put me into this mess.
 
I cant speak for anyone else, but for me it wasnt a case of driving to a pub and thinking "I feel fine enough to drive back" as i dont go to pubs... so every situation is different, but ultimately we're all done for the same thing - getting behind a wheel whilst over the limit.... simple as that.
Ive never been a heavy drinker, but to be honest, the first few months into my ban I developed into one as my thoughts were "F*** it, i may as well as im banned anyway..."
Petty! lol... but can imagine Im not the first to sink into the "woe is me/F the system" type of thinking. Fortunately Im over that way of thinking now.

Objectively thinking, all the police and courts are doing is trying to keep the roads safe as possible for drivers and pedestrians. As a a convicted drink driver myself, I would be mortified and angry beyond belief if my son or grand daughter were the victims of a drink driver... I would want them hauled over hot coals... a natural reaction, however to come back to DK's original question of whether a "death sentence" would deter a drink driver, I genuinely think it would not... as after a few drinks/confidence soaring, I can imagine a lot of drink drivers consider themselves capable of being able to drive.

To me, its not a case of making the punishment for drink driving as severe as possible, but more to educate people before they pick up that drink.

Unfortunately, there will always be people who "feel fine enough" to drive home after a night's boozing hence why people like Price and his team are well in demand, and unfortunately (no offence Price!) always will be.....

But, if he can reach some of the people, then thats a possible fewer DD victims on our roads.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Enter code DRINKDRIVING10 during checkout for 10% off
Top