Drift:
I have never heard of auto coach breath tests on vehicle
My mate works for Shearings or Hardings ? (forget which one), based in Runcorn. Some of their coaches are fitted with this. Blow, start up and go. Fail blow, no go !!!
A ■■■■■■■■ on the job, steak included
I kind of agree in principle but it must cost a pretty penny to have that system installed.
In my 23 years at Arriva (and North Western before) I cant remember a driver being prosecuted for DD other than internal checks.
Remember that lib dem MP who used to neck a couple of bottles of Vodka before going to work every day & he was so used to it, no one was any the wiser.
He was dead at the age of 30 odd. The booze is a terrible affliction for some blokes.
I doubt that more than a dozen of these convictions relate to truck drivers caught at the wheel so it’s hardly an endemic problem.
Racist or not, I will just say that virtually all of these “drink-drive truck driver” stories seem to involve eastern Europeans.
Ive noticed that too. But not ones who live and work here. Prehaps its acceptable to have a few gin and tonics as you travel the highways of eastern europe.
And to be fair i think (don’t take my word as gospel), anyone having about four pints and getting their head down about 11pm and getting up at 6am should be well clear ?
I think that I would be very nervous blowing a sample under those conditions. especially if the 4 pints were drunk later in the evening
And to be fair i think (don’t take my word as gospel), anyone having about four pints and getting their head down about 11pm and getting up at 6am should be well clear ?
I think that I would be very nervous blowing a sample under those conditions. especially if the 4 pints were drunk later in the evening
Having worked with traffic police over the years and seen plenty experiments I can confirm most people that drunk 4 pints before 11pm would be fine by 6am.
Everyone has a different metabolism but most would need more than 4 pints to put them over the limit the next morning.
I Agee with some of you guys I have seen East European drivers in the middle of the day get out folding table and chairs have a snack with some wine or whatever seen them in the middle of the night just come off the boat standing talking shouting drinking out of bottles ,us older retired drivers all knew someone who had pub calls on a journey no one seemed to bothered but any one who drinks drive with a heavy vehicle should be banned for life when I done Tanker work out of Shell Stanlow they had testing kit in the office if you got caught your banned for life out the terminal it’s just not worth it imagine killing someone maybe young kids because you had been drinking I have been involved in a fatal accident not my fault but it still lives with me and I was blameless be professional wait till you are off work then have what you want I am sure most drivers are responsible guys but as someone wrote every body of workers have an element of drinkers
All mechanically propelled vehicles where the operator is-(a) the holder of a driving licence licensing the holder to drive a vehicle in the category C,C1, D, D1, EB, EC, EC1, and W while driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of such a vehicle,(b) the holder of a licence to drive any type of public service vehicle granted under section 34 of the Taxi Regulation Act 2003 or Section 82 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 or a person in charge of such a vehicle, when the vehicle is being used in the course of business, or(c) the holder of a licence to drive a heavy or light goods vehicle as defined under EC directive 2007/46/EC or a person purporting to be such a holder while driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of such a vehicle, when the vehicle is being used in the course of business, shall be required to install an alcohol interlock within one year of the passing of this Act. The absence of an alcohol interlock under this subsection after 31 December 2015 will be considered an offence.(2) (a) All mechanically propelled vehicles where the operator is the holder of a driving licence licensing the holder to drive a vehicle in the category B while driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of such a vehicle shall be required to install an alcohol interlock within 24 months of the passing of this Act.(b) An exemption exists to paragraph (a) where the mechanically propelled vehicle was built prior to 1 January 2000(c) The absence of an alcohol interlock under this section after 31 December 2015 will be considered an offence unless the vehicle is subject to the exemption in paragraph (b).(3) All mechanically propelled vehicles sold in the Republic of Ireland after 1 July 2015 will be required to have an alcohol interlock installed prior to sale.(4) All mechanically propelled vehicles sold in the Republic of Ireland after 1 July 2016 will be required to have an active Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) unit installed prior to sale.(5) All mechanically propelled vehicles sold in the Republic of Ireland after I January 2016 will be required to have pedestrian air bags.(6) The Minister shall convene a body expert in science and technology to report to the Oireachtas on contribution to road safety from the application of science and technology to the enhanced driver and vehicle performance.".This relates to a debate we had about technology and its ability to assist the Minister and everybody in reducing accidents and activities in road transport that caused 290 people to lose their lives last year. We have made various proposals in the amendment. Since our discussion on Committee Stage, I have become more impressed by what the technology can do, and impressed by it as a low cost method of doing things. We got evidence of more of this technology being put into cars although the price of cars was falling at the same time. It appears that to implement this technology in vehicles would provide big bonuses on the safety side and does not involve the taxpayer in any cost, which would be good news to our friend and colleague, the Minister for Finance. It can be incorporated within a system whereby the price of vehicles incorporating these technologies has been falling. According to the CSO, there has been a slight decrease in car prices overall and the cars are incorporating more of these safety features.We got in touch with Matthews bus company which installed the alcohol locks. The estimated cost of installing a lock on a coach costing €270,000 was about €1,200 and the installers were fairly sure that if it was more widely used, the cost could be brought down to about €800. That seems to be a win-win. Presumably if we had an astute insurance industry it would reward the companies which installed those alcohol locks, which involves an insignificant increase in the cost of the vehicle, with a reduction in their insurance costs. When we got into this further we found pedestrian air bags had been added to cars for which prices are declining, as had lane-keeping aids to stop people drifting out of lanes - the Volvo researchers indicate that about a third of crashes are caused by people veering between lanes. Other developments include pedestrian detection systems which will stop the vehicle, systems to enhance blind spot information, cross-traffic alerts, a city safety system where if the car in front stops the car coming behind will stop automatically, an auto detection system and an intelligence speed adaptation unit.Since discussing the issue on Committee Stage I do not know if I have been converted to it, but we have calculated that the alcohol lock added 0.44% to the cost of the vehicles concerned. We think there is an avenue to be pursued here. We admire what the Road Safety Authority has been doing in terms of trying to influence driver behaviour and improving the testing. The testing of vehicles is the next stage. It could take a leaf out of the policies of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, of Ireland promoting itself as a smart and a high-tech economy. This technology exists so can we move towards having it implemented here? We pushed out the dates somewhat from the previous day’s discussion about when we would seek to have this technology adopted.It is low cost and has great possibilities. It may be the next stage where we can get the kind of improvements that we all seek in this area.To develop the subject further, we have described the various technologies and subsection (6), in addition to the ones that I have read out, states: “The Minister shall convene a body expert in science and technology to report to the Oireachtas on contribution to road safety from the application of science and technology to the enhanced driver and vehicle performance”. Generally, we are impressed by the possibilities. The intelligent vehicle may be the next step forward in dealing with problems such as lapses in concentration, people falling asleep and single vehicle accidents. With regards to knocking down pedestrians, there seems to be technology to deal with the problem. Perhaps one of the bodies that already advises the Government on technology would be able to assist in the matter.Safety legislation can boost the process. For example, the alcolock provision seems to cost remarkably little. Again, based on the discussion that we had on the last occasion when mention was made of the one bus company that installs these safety features, I put the amendment before the House. It seems that the next stage in terms of a big breakthrough in road safety that we all seek could be happening now.
i would not even consider drink driving,i do not know any other way to earn a living so if i lost my licence through drink driving i would lose everything as i would not be able to pay the mortgage for a start,not worth the risk and i have no time for people who do,i knew a fellow driver who was banned from driving for twelve months one day during the week [2 weeks after being banned]he turned up for work in his car,they never learn
Fluckinger Transport a large Austrian company are advertising for staff. On the letter I saw I noticed this quote;
The alcohol driving-lock system Dräger Interlock XT is integrated in all vehicles. Should a positive reading occur, a message is sent instantly to the Fleet Manager and the vehicle cannot be operated.
When I used to work on tippers, one of my fellow drivers was never drunk, nor sober. He was a heavy drinker, that went to the pub every night without fail. He had every mannerism and outward sign of a alcoholic, including the prominent veins on his nose, speech that was often slurred and often memory loss and shakes.
I returned from a long weekend away to find he had died from pneumonia, complicated by cirrhosis of the liver. We had a whip round and I took the collection to his widow. She told me he used to go straight to the pub from work and didn’t come home till after 11pm every night and he’d be in the pub most of the weekend. Funny thing was, his driving was perfect, including as those who drive offroad will tell you, the treacherous conditions of some building projects and the sheer drop in many quarries.
Janos:
Not sure if it is true, but I think they can only conduct test if they suspect you are intoxicated, as is the case with the police.
Wrong. Police can require a breath test of any driver who they suspect has committed a traffic offence while the vehicle was in motion, or who they suspect was driving at the time of an accident.
Janos:
Not sure if it is true, but I think they can only conduct test if they suspect you are intoxicated, as is the case with the police.
Wrong. Police can require a breath test of any driver who they suspect has committed a traffic offence while the vehicle was in motion, or who they suspect was driving at the time of an accident.
Police can only breath test somebody they suspect of drinking. Either by smell or your actions. They can’t just stop you and breath test you for no reason. They can breath test if the traffic offence is speeding or dangerous driving, or after an accident etc, but they can’t stop you for a broken light and then breath test you without reasonable cause to believe you have been drinking.
Janos:
They can breath test if the traffic offence is speeding or dangerous driving, or after an accident etc, but they can’t stop you for a broken light and then breath test you without reasonable cause to believe you have been drinking.
If they stop you for a broken light and think that you may have been drinking, then they can breath test you. Pretty much anything can give them reasonable grounds to suspect that you may have been drinking, and the reality is that they have virtually unrestricted powers to breathalyse a motorist.
No Harry - They don’t have to “think you have been drinking”. The broken light (or speeding, or not wearing a seatbelt etc) or suspected involvement in an accident is all that is required in law for a breath test to be required. There need be no suspicion at all of drinking. During the traditional Christmas drink-drive campaigns, most police forces issue standing instructions that all drivers involved in accidents or reported for moving traffic offences will be breath-tested, regardless of any suspicions that the bobby may or may not have.
Although an officer cannot perform random breath tests, he can do all or one of the following;
a) is currently driving, attempting to drive or is in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or
b) has been driving, attempting to drive or in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or
c) has committed a traffic offence while driving a vehicle that was in motion regardless of whether or not the police officer reasonably suspects a driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
In reality though, a police officer can stop any vehicle he chooses, for any reason he chooses, and then he can breathalyse the driver so by extension he can perform random breath tests.
Harry Monk:
In reality though, a police officer can stop any vehicle he chooses, for any reason he chooses, and then he can breathalyse the driver so by extension he can perform random breath tests.
Harry Monk:
In reality though, a police officer can stop any vehicle he chooses, for any reason he chooses, and then he can breathalyse the driver so by extension he can perform random breath tests.
Watch what they do, not what they say.
This is true.
Going a bit fast weren’t we Sir?
Sir. I noticed you clipped the white line earlier!
It looks like your suspension is a little lower at this side Sir.
Harry Monk:
In reality though, a police officer can stop any vehicle he chooses, for any reason he chooses, and then he can breathalyse the driver so by extension he can perform random breath tests.
Watch what they do, not what they say.
Even if it did happen like that (and I really don’t think it does), it’s still not random testing though, is it?
Watch what they do, not what your prejudices lead you to think they do.
steak included 
