No Drink-Drive Limit For Young Drivers
Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer, is proposing a new authoritarian policy - cutting the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers aged 17-20 to zero.
That is a stupid idea for various reasons:
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Young/new drivers are rarely the ones who drink and drive. They tend to have far more respect for the road and other drivers than older people who are
arrogantlyconfident in their own driving abilities and their ability to consume alcohol. -
It wouldn’t reduce the number of accidents due to drink-driving unless a far greater amount of policing was put into enforcing it.
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This law could be broken by something as simple as having had a couple of drinks the night before - thus no longer being impaired by it - or by using outhwash that contains alcohol or by using alcohol in cooking.
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The police would be encouraged to stop young drivers to an even gerater extent than currently, because of the likelihood of catching them and making an arrest to meet their targets. This would thus mean that theo se whoa re more likely to be drinking and driving would get away without being stopped.
Liam Donaldsons claim that
Young people have enough difficulty when they first start driving learning the skills on the road, they don’t need the complication of drink as well.
is true. But they don’t need the threat of being accused of drink-driving for having an amount of alcohol that doesn’t impair their driving ability either.
How is a driver that has turned 20 two days ago implicitly any more safe on the roads than one that will turn 20 in two days time? They’re not at all. And what about a driver who passes their test after the age of 20…? The issue of having two different levels just complicates things. If they want to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit, it must be done to all equally, not picking on one small demographic.
Besides, isn’t this what is called ageism?
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Christ, is mouthwash that dangerous?!
http://lettersfromatory.wordpress.com
Only if you’re 17-20.