turtletom

I don't know about what it's like anywhere else in Australia but i can tell you that drink driving seems to be the norm in Canberra.

thebears

Is the same in rural sussex and I guess in both inner and outter Melbourne Surburbs.

Despite the publicity, the deaths, the carnage it still goes on.

By the way its not the drinking that makes my driving atrocious - I'm just a bad driver

vicsa

same here in QLD all drink & drive - no need for it & the motorway driving, i get home fuming most nights all lanes going 100km as they just think "oh today i will stay in lane 3" and road hog all the way home - i checked & the motorways are supposed to run like ours with overtake on outside but that dont happen - gosh what a whinging pom i am!

turtletom

Lol yeah that seems to happen in Canberra 2! Sit in lane 3 just because they feel like it.

Australia_bound?

From personal experience, Melbourne is the only place I've seen Police actively stopping drivers and breath testing them! Even got my Gran one day heading out toward Geelong, big Police Wagon stopping and testing everyone who went by!

Fat Bloke

I find that drink driving is almost socially acceptable amongst some of my younger workmates, young blokes in their 20's.

They will think nothing of sumping 6 bottles of fourex and hitting the road.

Sad really.

Tracker

Come on you guys its just the same in the uk.

Centurion

It is the same as anywhere. But at least Australia has random road blocks with breathalizers and I can tell you in about the last couple of years I've been tested myself 3 times (negatively lol - I dont drink). Its a good thing IMO and should be introduced worldwide.

It wont stop idiots doing it but at least it takes some of them off the roads.

turtletom

I know it happens everywhere but i think it happens a lot more in Canberra than it does back home. Example being my mate picks me up for work, we go to work gets to about 9am and he is explaining to me that hes going to get a beer from the shop on the way home.

Everyday without fail he will go get beers and drink them whilst driving back home.

Back home my mate and i will go out for a few drinks i will have a couple of pints offer to buy my mate a drink and he says ''no sorry mate im driving''

Cheetah7

Makes me sick.

I have refused to get in the car of friends who have been drinking and driving. Ive made my way home on several occasions.

If someone can afford to drink, and afford to drive the car then they can afford a cab, either that or stay off the sauce.

I know it goes on everywhere and Oz is no exception, but its still wrong and there is no excuse for it.

They have limits for a reason and its always the innocent ones that pay the price.

yvsie

Certainly here in WA the police are always out in force doing random breath testing (where we live anyway)

My daughter and son both > 18 always have a designated driver when they go out.

turtletom

I would not mind if the people that decided to drink and drive were putting their own life in danger but its not just their life its everyone else on the road.

Fat Bloke

Aye, and it is IMHO much more prevalent amongst the young people here in Brisbane than their counterparts in the UK.

I guess the road toll here in Australia speaks volumes.

Womat

Victoria also has drug-driving testing, not sure if any of the other states have followed or plan to follow suit.

soapy©

its not the same here as in the uk

here they carry it like a badge. i guy once said to me that he got a seven month ban and his mate only got 4 months. he was dead proud that he got a better ban as he called it than his mate.
this is not just a one off either.
every night i take at least one prick home from the lock up in southport for being as pissed as a fart while driving.
a lot of them get locked up for 4 hours then asked to get dropped off at their car

a little example:
lady in her 60s asks me if i can take her home.
as long as u have money i replied
she was wearing a dressing gown and slippers
i asked her where she had been and she told me that, because she had just found out that her dad was dying she decided to have a glass of wine, well 2 that what she told me. she then jumped into the car to buy another bottle and was caught by the police.

she is now writing to her local paper and the police to tell them how unfair they were with her.
she was stinking of drink and was staggering when i first met her (5 hours after she had been caught)
her glass must have been the largest in the world!

she had been an honest driver all her life and had only been caught speeding a few times, only went through a few red lights, and only driven into her garage door once!

i think this lady should be given the key to the city for being such an honest driver


this place is riddled with people drinking till they are pissed and getting into a car!

the uk was never as bad as this. yeh i know they still do it, but i have never heard anyone brag about getting caught.

on thursday night i saw a young girl walk out of a tavern and while trying to get they key in the car door she lost her balance and landed on her arse. she was too drunk to get up. her friend helped her up and opened the door for her so that she could run them home!
in the end she was so drunk she couldnt get the car to start so she took a taxi because the car was acting like an idiot (her words)