Warning after drink drive crackdown

“What a pity that comments are not allowed on the slimline black panther story. There's no ongoing court case is there, like the bull mastiff story? (Yuck, BTW).”

“I read the words that are printed. You might like to re-read the first two lines of the article, as you must have been badly mis-quoted:
'"It was not a dog, a wild boar or a sheep, it was a slimline panther." Those were the words of Chris Roberts, 59...'”

“I'm glad that you take the situation re overweight canines so seriously, highly commendable.
Just a pity that you re-write other news items to suit yourself though, particularly as the cat sighted last week was never defined as a "panther" but a much smaller (slimline) animal likened more to a Chausie with a perfectly erudite comparison of the same. Still, some people read what they want to read don't they?”

“What is being done about the danger posed to motorists from Gloucestershire's growing population of slimline panthers? That's what I'd like to know. A potentially dangerous panther encounter on the public highway could happen to anyone, as evidenced only a week ago in The Citizen. It can even happen twice to some people. Panther danger surely outweighs morning-after drink-driving danger. Why is this not being addressed by the police? As soon as the new police commissioner is elected, I will be petitioning him to take the panther issue seriously.”

“I;m not having an "unjustified pop at the police" at all, merely pointing out that morning after drink drivers are far from the top of the pile when it comes down to dangers to innocents.”

“Cut_Above. Apart from being fit to drive to their surgery, it is not the police's job to check if a doctor is fit to carry out his morning appointments. Likewise it is not the police's job to make sure a mother is fit to look after her children the morning after being on a hen night. If she is driving her children to school / nursery then police are potentially involved, but not whilst the family are at home.

And what is the test for proving whether a driver is (or isn't) too tired to drive? I had a nice lie-in this morning, and have consumed no alcohol or drugs in the past 48 hours - am I fit to drive, if I got in my car right this minute??? I'm 100% confident I'd pass a breath-test, but am I still too tired?

They aren't "only" targeting drivers the morning afterwards. Drink-drivers often give themselves away through their actions behind the wheel, and the police are on the lookout for potential offenders 24 hours a day. But they can't stop everybody on the off-chance that they might still be over the limit from the night before, because they simply don't have the resources (which is NOT the fault of the police themselves). The point is that with the Euro football tournament on-going, there is an added chance of the-morning-after drunks being behind the wheel, but there's also a chance that drunks will be behind the wheel during the evening rush-hour, after a lunchtime drink with the lads in the office, nothing to do with watching the football.

Don't have an unjustified pop at the police, when they are identifying and removing drink-drivers from the road. The next one they catch might have - if not caught - smashed into your car the next time he/she was over the limit. So thank the police for potentially preventing this from happening.”

“Just a shame that the police only target drivers on this morning after ploy and not all of the other who have a responsibility for the safety of others.
Are doctors breathalysed before morning surgery? Are mothers of toddlers checked after a drunken hen night that they're fit to care for their kids? Do they nick anyone for being too tired to drive? The list is probably endless.”

“Simply no excuses for drink-driving. If you have a few during the evening, and then think you're safe to drive at 8am the next day, you might find out the hard way that you aren't. You simply can't take the risk, and you only have yourself to blame if you then get caught drink-driving. You chose to drink, and then you chose to drive at some point thereafter.

Sad to see that another 11 idiots have been caught in the space of a week, but it's another 11 potential fatal accidents hopefully removed from the roads, at least for the duration of the driving bans they'll now receive. Assuming that a) they abide by their bans, and b) they don't drink-drive again once they are allowed to drive again. Sadly, some will.

Keep up the good work, Gloucestershire Police. There are more drink-drivers out there, taking their chances. And therefore putting not only their own lives at risk, but the lives of all other motorists / pedestrians / cyclists at risk, too.”