tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post5020319364639160279..comments2024-03-28T17:11:52.333+00:00Comments on The Pub Curmudgeon: The real reason whyCurmudgeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-3330658731616994342012-08-05T20:29:56.879+01:002012-08-05T20:29:56.879+01:00Even if you consider this to be entirely positive ...Even if you consider this to be entirely positive in terms of road safety, it is undeniable that it has had a negative impact on the trade of very many pubs outside of major urban centres, and that it is a piece of social history worth recording.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-16184314063469756232012-08-05T20:22:55.496+01:002012-08-05T20:22:55.496+01:00An interesting piece and some interesting comments...An interesting piece and some interesting comments-in particular Martyns ill judged remarks (his subsequent silence is telling) and RedNevs excellent rebuttal-for my part I will occasionally drive out to pubs, and would have no hesitation at all in drinking a pint (may be a pint and a half over a longer period) and driving home-my only caveat being that I would pay due attention to the strength of the beer-the real issue is with those who will either intentionally drive after consuming too much or make an ill-judged decision to "take a chance" and drive home-the bigger danger for me, other than such people, are the idiots who speed everywhere, drive erratically or those clowns whose lives are so important that they must answer/use their mobile phones whilst driving.realalemikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-71307817401958282992012-08-05T19:19:37.201+01:002012-08-05T19:19:37.201+01:00Well you know that I think you petrolheads are a s...Well you know that I think you petrolheads are a stange bunch...But I'm with you on this one. Red Nev summarised it well and, frankly, I'm surprised at Martyn's comments.Sat In A Pubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08123038980796000837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-15456268962227967442012-08-04T23:53:50.678+01:002012-08-04T23:53:50.678+01:00The only reason I mentioned that I had passed a br...The only reason I mentioned that I had passed a breathalyser test (and thus never been convicted of drink-driving) was to underline the point that I am not a whingeing victim. In much the same way as those campaigning against speed cameras and draconian speed enforcement are often - wrongly - accused of only doing so because they have been convicted themselves.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-25404940227948429252012-08-04T23:48:15.987+01:002012-08-04T23:48:15.987+01:00Martyn: The fact that you passed a breathalyser te...Martyn: The fact that you passed a breathalyser test is irrelevant to whether or not your driving is of a decent standard to begin with either. <br /><br />Life isn't a series of homogenous tasks that we are all capable of performing to the same degree of competence. The Olympics should surely illustrate that very well. The champion archer can fire arrows at a target better than I can sober even if he is three sheets to the wind, just as Vettel could probably handle a car better after three pints of Stella than half-blind Aunt Maud in her 10 year old Nissan Micra. Arbitrary limits are piss poor as a guide of any kind of skill.Dick Puddlecotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01481866882188932892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-85517054928180933322012-08-04T16:55:12.964+01:002012-08-04T16:55:12.964+01:00I legally drink and drive only occasionally, as th...I legally drink and drive only occasionally, as there are about 15 real ale pubs within 30 minutes' walking distance of my home. If I lived somewhere remote, I may well use the car and drink within the legal limit in preference to the social isolation of staying at home. <br /><br />I don't trust official stats. The police like to say that there has been X number of accidents in which drink was a factor. That's a careful choice of words, because 'factor' does not mean 'cause'. They include drivers who are under the limit, and include those accidents where drink was definitely not the cause. Such stats are worthless. I challenged a report in my local paper that quoted official statements, but, despite a reminder, have received no reply to date and don't expect one. I believe my local rag won't risk being seen as questioning official anti-alcohol propaganda.<br /><br />In reply to Martin: your suggestion that drinkers who drive after drinking within the limit are content with the death toll as a price worth paying for using the car is contemptible tosh. The real dangers on the road are those drivers who drink whatever they want and get behind the wheel blind drunk. Unfortunately, there are some young people who are quoting that old 70s nonsense that "I can drive better after I've been drinking". It's not just the lads - young women are increasingly driving drunk too. Tinkering with the limit, or even introducing a limit of zero, will do nothing to deter such stupidity.Neville Grundyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10923209266005338452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-52676082253342026392012-08-04T16:08:24.776+01:002012-08-04T16:08:24.776+01:00So, Martyn, you don't want people to smoke in ...So, Martyn, you don't want people to smoke in pubs, and you don't want people to visit pubs if they are going to drink any alcohol at all and then drive. Do you actually want any pubs to remain open?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-2216555918203235242012-08-04T15:11:47.917+01:002012-08-04T15:11:47.917+01:00If I didn't go to the pub in the car, and stic...If I didn't go to the pub in the car, and stick to the limit, I wouldn't go at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-49574916355722796522012-08-04T14:55:23.841+01:002012-08-04T14:55:23.841+01:00Umm, Martyn, those stats are fatalities involving ...Umm, Martyn, those stats are fatalities involving drivers over the legal alcohol limit, which makes your argument irrelevant.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-86658105337043535992012-08-04T14:50:55.152+01:002012-08-04T14:50:55.152+01:00The fact that you passed a breathalyser test is ir...The fact that you passed a breathalyser test is irrelevant to whether or not your driving was affected by your drinking: the clear fact is that even a small amount of alcohol makes you a worse driver, as is demonstrated by the review of the literature <a href="http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/pub/hs809028/Discussion.htm" rel="nofollow">here</a>, which<br />"provides strong evidence that impairment of some driving-related skills begins with any departure from zero BAC.By 0.050 g/dl [that would be about a pint or a pint and a half for a normal-sized man], the majority of studies have reported impairment by alcohol. By BACs of 0.080 g/dl [2-2.5 pints], 94% of the studies reviewed reported impairment."<br /><br />However, what really pulls the rug out from under your argument is the plunge in the number of drink-driving fatalities in the UK, from more than 1,600 a year in 1979 to fewer than 250 in 2010. Are you really suggesting that your freedom to drive to the pub and have a couple of pints is worth 1,300 deaths a year? Are you really suggesting that thousands of people now alive should really be dead, so that people could take their car to the pub without fear of being breathalysed?Martyn Cornellhttp://zythophile.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-29549053483446414082012-08-04T13:30:27.043+01:002012-08-04T13:30:27.043+01:00Surely another factor stopping people from explori...Surely another factor stopping people from exploring distant pubs by car is the extortionate cost of the fuel…<br /><br />And yet, as with beer duty, the Government keeps piling on fuel duty increases (though at least they "generously" postpone some of them — don't see <i>that</i> happening with beer duty!)Tiny Clangernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-15067069633961813462012-08-04T12:21:10.696+01:002012-08-04T12:21:10.696+01:00I tend to regard the argument that pubs are profit...I tend to regard the argument that pubs are profiteering on soft drinks as <a href="http://pubcurmudgeon.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/soft-thinking.html" rel="nofollow">a bit of a canard</a>, but there is no doubt that they have become much more a part of the core product range rather than just a sideline.Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02558747878308766840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-61488744878716431402012-08-04T11:38:22.021+01:002012-08-04T11:38:22.021+01:00Good point. IMO It also may have had a part to pla...Good point. IMO It also may have had a part to play in why soft drinks have risen in price so much since I lived in a pub in the late 80s/early 90s.Dick Puddlecotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01481866882188932892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5623537812609722663.post-13588591352261039822012-08-04T11:24:56.456+01:002012-08-04T11:24:56.456+01:00It's the balance between risk and personal fre...It's the balance between risk and personal freedom.<br />At the moment the scales are distorted by media scaremongering same old.<br />Just over 2000 road accident deaths last year in the UK.<br />About 1 in every 30,000 people.<br />491,000 deaths overall.<br />Just ban everything ,that seems to be the mantra.<br />Doesn't make any difference to that rough figure of 500,000 though seems to be a constant!<br />Probably because if you don't drive your more likely to be "run over",all bans do is distort the risk and move it to another area of risk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com