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28/09/2009 by admin.
With unemployment amongst white collar workers at an all time high and rising, this is not the time to take any risks with your current employment. Loss of your driving license may not immediately be seen as critical to your employment role, but the fact won’t go unnoticed and at the very least will cost you dearly.
Most of us don’t drink and drive, or at least don’t plan to. It’s the unplanned events which catch us out, the lunch time meeting where your glass gets refilled unnoticed. The morning after when we have an early start. The unexpected call, when you wern’t expecting to have to work, in effect, modern jobs are no longer 9-5 and mobile phones and peer pressure mean we are always expected to be available.
It’s these situations where access to a breathalyser can be invaluable. If its telling your employer with conviction that you are unable to travel, this may be mopre acceptable. In these situations a digital measure should not be undervalued, as alcohol reduces our ability to judge how we are functioning.
The use of most breathalysers has been designed to be single button with tonal indicators of when and how long to blow. Modern units will not give a reading unless the proceedure is completed, making self testing while under the influence more reliable.
Modern digital breathalyers such as the DA5000 from valuebreathalysers offer all this technology for under £40.00 These hand held breathalyser units also have alarm settings at 0.05%BAC well below the UK current prosecution level of 0.08%BAC (correct at time of publishing) giving users a significant warning margin should they approach the legal levels.
All users would advise drivers not to drive until the alcohol blood levels are no longer measurable, as all alcohol will reduce performance. By measuring the blood levels after drinking, breathalysers can help users judge how their body clears alcohol, and help plan and avoid any alcohol drunk during the week and week end.
Click here for more information about digital breathalysers
Posted in Alcohol & driving, drink driving issues, Drinking levels, DA5000 Breathalyser, Value breathalysers, Alcohol | No Comments »
23/09/2009 by admin.
1 in 10 young drivers have been in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of drugs
A new report by the RAC also shows that a quarter have been in a car when they suspect the driver has had drugs that may affect their ability to safely drive.
The report calls for better education on the effects of street drugs and prescription medication to mirror the campaigns for alcohol, targeted at young drug users.
Visit http://www.rac.co.uk/report-on-motoring/report-2009/drugs.htm to read RAC 2009 report on drugs and driving
Posted in drugs and driving, drug driving, drink driving issues, Alcohol & driving | No Comments »
01/05/2009 by admin.
About 10 years ago I worked with a man who received a drink driving conviction and was banned from driving for 12 months. He was a professional man and well respected in the local community, and a car was essential for his job.
It was one of those silly things. His teenage daughter had gone out with friends into the local town for the evening, and was coming back with her friends-another parent was supposed to be picking them up. He settled in for the evening with his wife, the TV and had a few of bottles of beer. About 9pm he got a phone call from his daughter-she had a teenage crisis and needed picking up immediately. Both he and his wife had been drinking. he thought he was OK and anyway the roads were quiet, and were mainly country roads into the town.
He set off. He had not reached the town when he was stopped by a police car, who had been following him on the empty country road for some time. Although he was not aware of it, something about his driving alerted the police man. He may have been speeding as he was worried about his daughter (it was winter & dark & cold)-teenagers ! He was not aware the police car was following him until he saw the flashing blue lights-he just thought it was another car in the dark.
The police car pulled him over and he was breathalysed and found to be well over the limit. He had still not retrieved his daughter and had to ring his wife to arrange for a friend to go a pick his daughter up. (valuable lesson here-when your teenagers are out one of you should refrain from drinking that night, in case you have to retrieve them quickly)
He was taken to a police station, and given a blood test which found he was well over the limits and he was prosecuted.
How did losing his license affect his life:
These are inconveniences-imagine the affect on his lfe if he had had an accident or injured or killed someone because of his drink driving
He learned a valuable lesson, and fortunatley no one was injured.
Make sure you THINK before you drink and drive
Posted in drink driving issues, Alcohol & driving, Alcohol & Teenagers | No Comments »
01/05/2009 by admin.
The breathalyser test was introduced on british roads in 1967, and since that time has prevented many accidents and deaths on the roads.
THINK! runs two major drink drive campaigns every year, in summer and at Christmas, using a variety of media including TV, cinema, radio, posters in pub washrooms, outdoor advertising and partnership marketing campaigns.
If you drive at twice the current legal alcohol limit, you are at least 30 times more likely to cause a road crash than a driver who has not been drinking.
The THINK! strategy for drink driving is to remind all drivers of the personal consequences of drink driving, and that a drink driving conviction can ruin your life.
Our campaigns focus on the ‘moment of doubt’ around the second pint, when drivers are considering whether or not to have another drink.
Posted in Alcohol & driving, drink driving issues, Breathalyser, Drinking levels, Breath Test, Breathalyser Limit | No Comments »
01/05/2009 by admin.
here is an extract from an article in The times 21/4/09
Britain used to have Europe’s safest roads. No longer. Over the past six years the Netherlands and Sweden have been able to boast of lower road death rates and more success in cutting the number of drink-related crashes. What has not changed is the British legal limit for drink-driving, which stands at 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood despite two abandoned efforts by the Government to bring it down in line with European norms.
A third effort is announced today. It deserves to survive the journey to the statute book.
Click here to read the full article online
Posted in drink driving issues, Alcohol & driving, Drinking levels, Breathalyser Limit, Alcohol | No Comments »