If your not over the limit drinking beer is same offence is drinking Fanta or eating a Mars bar at the wheel.

 

You are so right. How do you know whether he had or not? What business is it of yours?

Had you seen him drinking significantly before he got into the car you might have a case.

He cannot be accused of being over the limit without a breath or blood test.

Les

 

Jumped up cyclist that felt insecure in his gay attire.

 

let me tell you a story.

I came home to find a car i don't know parked on my drive, so i blocked it in and waited.

Bloke turns up we have words or at least i have lots of words and he struggles to get one in edgeways.

As he is getting in the car i pay a little more attention to his demeanor and my thought process arrives at the fact that he is drunk and about to drive off, it being about 3pm and the schools tipping out obviously there is no way im letting this bloke go anywhere.

A small struggle insues that results in him being slightly more worse for wear having stupidly attempted to interfere with my efforts to turn the car off and remove the keys before he drove off

So the police are called and duly arrive and cart the bloke off having taken statements from myself and a couple of neighbours it was decided no further action would be taken despite the fact that he was 4 times over the dd limit

Reason given private property, despite the fact that i was prepared to give evidence and could prove he had driven there not ten minutes before as another neighbour saw him pull up and wobble down the road

 

The OP said that the traffic was stopped, so he was not drinking while driving and was not committing an offence.

To those whose said how do we know he had not been sinking several beers beforehand, you could say that about anyone on the road and the point is, you just don't know. Only the breathalyser will tell. Had his driving beforehand given any kind of a clue whether he was under the influence?

You can't just accuse anyone without possession of the full facts.

I will say however that it was unwise to take a swig of beer while at the wheel, it was an inflammatory act and is bound to offend if seen. Although only one swig of beer won't affect one's ability to drive I feel that more drinking than that or drugs and driving should never go together.

Les

 

Surely being over the limit and in possession of the car keys is enough evidence for a prosecution. Attempting to drive off should have been all they needed to do him for it.

Les

 

Yes i agree and his rear wheels did hit the double yellows just before his head hit the steering wheel.

 

A couple of points that seem to have been missed:

(I have already made these points earlier)
the car was moving while he was drinking
my own method of transport has nothing to do with what he was doing. Had I been walking past and seen this happen, my reaction would be the same.

 

excellent troll comment - you've no idea what I was wearing at time.

 

Everyone is against drink driving but invading someones space is not the brightest thing and is asking for trouble........

 

its not a troll comment.
Its based on the evidence on foxarm's post.

He says you were dressed up like a power ranger

 

OK so you caught Foxarm having a sip of his girlfriends beer and threw a fit, why not take it up with him on his thread it is 2 below this one on the first page of general

 

.....as has been previously said:

People are letting their 'traditional Scoobynet blind hatred of cyclists' get in the way here, the guy was drinking a can of Stella at the wheel, therefore he's a ********.

Was Kieran right to hassle him... that is the only grey area

 

Have you ever met Kieran in person, mate?

He's a bit of a beast I wouldn't have argued with him and I'm 6 foot, 15 stone and can bench 300+ lbs

If he tells you to ditch your Stella, you ditch it!

As WWSD pointed out, doing anything that impairs your control of the motor vehicle is an offence whether its drinking fanta/eating/reading. However, drinking alcohol whilst driving is just a grossly ignorant and obnoxious thing to do and, frankly, asking for trouble!

 

Nope.

 

LOL it never ceases to amaze me how everyone on SN is in the 40/50% tax bracket and makes Mr Universe look like a drip.

Maybe Scoobynet should change from being a car forum to a dating agency for Gold diggers bearing in mind how much money and muscle there is in such a confined space.

 

best comment so far lol

look at meet pics it tells a different story lol

 

My point exactly mate!!!

And yes, Meet pics do often reveal the truth....... which is why I don't attend meets!

Ns04

 

What, and sticking your beak in to someone elses car and telling them to empty the can isn't looking for trouble? I couldn't give a toss how 'big' he is, i'd have told him to go and **** himself - Is Kieren a bit of a bully, on the quiet, or just a wannabe copper?

 

That's not true though, as already pointed out drinking and eating is only a problem if it IS impairing your control, the act alone is not unlawful.

To be honest I don't find the idea of Kieran playing 'citizen on patrol' with his helmet cam very cool at all, or issuing threats to motorists etc.

OTOH if someone is swigging beer behind a wheel I feel something should be said but that is not necessarily 'stop or I'll tell the police'.

So on balance he probably did the right (ish) thing.

 

Why is it the presumption is cyclists are weak and it is easy for any motorist to get out and, to quote one poster "punch the granny out of you", the only reason for this perception is the feeling of strength and invincibility afforded by being in a two tonne metal box, cyclists are not all lentil eating vegetarian wimps as per the stereotype and the bravado and feeling of invincibility evaporates if you actually get out and square up as to be honest, someone who cycles every day will be stronger and fitter than someone who sits in a car for two hours a day. That said, most people dont immediately resort to extreme violence when challenged in a polite manner, perhaps the guy felt uncomfortable with what he was doing, perhaps he didnt want a punch up at the side of the road as your car has a registration plate and generally that is linked to your name so if you being a shaven headed double hard b4stard who takes no **** off nobody does beat up a willowy and pathetic cyclsits it will probably come back on you.

I suppose, techincally havign a can of lager open in a car is fine, drinking from it whilst driving is apparently a no no but if its in the cup holder and you pull over into a designated stopping place and drink it then again, not an issue legally until you exceed 39 micrograms, thing is the Police cannot stop you unless they have reasonable cause to believe you are over the limit, i.e. erratic driving, seen exciting a pub and weaving on foot or perhaps and open can of Stella in a your hand.

Drink driving is an emotive subject and people are right to express concern that someone appears to be drinking alcohol whilst driving, several people on this thread have had people they know killed or maimed by drink drivers so having that can in his car is two fingers to those people, legally he may be ok but morally that stinks really, the cans should stay in the boot of the car until you get home and dont need to drive.

I think we need to retain some perspective as well, a zero limit is impossible and would be unfair, I have one pint and drive after perhaps a couple of hours and some food as I know it will be out of my system to not affect my driving, may be detectable but not worthy of me losing my licence, common sense is they way but a lot of people just chance it and come unstuck.

Whether Kieran was right to speak to him, why not, do we all sit by and watch people do stupid things that may cause death or injury because we are scared or dont want to be though of as Righteous ? are we all meant to be so scared of other members of the public just because we ask them a question, bit sad if that is the case but there does seem to be a lot of awful, agreessive, badly behaved scumbags about, the kind that thinks its ok to drive round drinking a can of Stella.

 

The only hiccup is boxing in a pair cycling shoes , which are a bit slippy at the best of times

 

I'm not an expert, but I'd say if you got caught the police would have a good case for prosecuting under section 3 of the RTA "Driving without due care and attention"

As for the legitimacy of Kieran's interference, I would respond by saying:

a) If the bloke didn't think what he was doing was wrong, he could have told him so

b) Perhaps if people weren't so prepared to walk on by, the large element of antisocial behaviour we have in this country wouln't be quite so, erm, large!

c) Henceforth Kieran should be referred to as "The Punisher"

 

I was more thinking Judge Dredd....on a push bike.

 

The point being made is that if the car was moving enough that taking a swig from a can caused the driver to be driving without due care and attention, then you knocking on the window and having a chat was causing you to ride without due care and attention. You are riding watching what people are doing inside their cars rather than focussing your whole attention on the road.

 

Well there is today's pedant champion

If you knew the first thing about cycling on busy roads, you'd realise that looking in cars, wing mirrors of parked or stationary cars especially is a huge part if avoiding accidents and staying alive. It's not just a case if looking in front, you need to have full awareness and if you weren't able to notice something 'unusual', like someone drinking a can of Stella when driving, then I wouldn't fancy your chances of living long

 

Yep, its information overload when on a bike, you dont have that "meh" attitude to things that a lot of motorised vehicle drivers have, if someone swings a car door open when I am in my car then they lose a door, we exchange details, if I dont notice on my bike, or failt to be far enough away then I hit it at 15/20 mph and fall off, sometimes just bruised, sometimes with a crushed windpipe and sometimes under the car coming the other way.

Agree with the coment that if people didnt just stand by then their would be less antisocial behaviour, the scum is winning at the moment and taking over so a polite word now and again may help and hopefully if you don't get all confrontational and agressive yourself it shouldnt turn nasty, even a commited ****** would find it difficult to take offence at someone smiling and saying please and thankyou, failing that I will rely on my 6ft, 17 stone bulk and for some reason my P50 end of year certificate as apparently paying 40 percent tax does help in these situations.

 

You been at those pies again, Jacko?

 

but makes your Ali shuffle look convincing

 

The police can stop any vehicle at any time whenever they want in order to check the drivers documents, they don't need any grounds to suspect an offence has taken place.