Drug Fuelled Driving

Dominic

As a motorcyclist I am exposed to the joy of the smells of the environment......hedgerows,cut grass , Sunday Bar -B- Q s  etc etc
What I am also suddenly incredibly aware of is the smells coming from cars with windows open.........
The stink of SKUNK !
I am amazed at the number of passing cars leaving a trail of dope behind them and even more amazed that when streaming through lines of cars in London that one in ten is being driven by some twat with a joint on the go.
FFS ....this is a million times worse than somebody on a phone and amazingly seems ten times more common - if you follow the idiot you can clearly see the erratic danger of their driving.
This is a much more serious problem than the authorities realise .

p90fool

I often smell it too, in fact I filtered between lanes on the M4 a couple of weeks ago for about five miles and the number of spliffs on the go (on a fucking motorway!) is truly terrifying. 

Dominic

I know.........it is unbelievable how frequently you smell it

WiresDreamDisasters

Every single driving lesson this happens at least once or twice. It's pretty rampant tbh.

TheMarlin

i popped to Shepherds Bush for a gig a week or two ago.  My friend wanted something quick and dirty to eat, so popped into Greg’s. 
There were a bunch of what appeared to be 13 year olds in the doorway smoking the strongest skunk I’ve ever smelled. Didn’t give a damn. They weren’t sharing, each had their own massive spliffs. 
Staff couldn’t care less, thought this was normal perfectly acceptable behaviour for a Greg’s. Thought my reaction was hilarious. 

Maybe it’s me. Maybe this is normal, and I’m just an old man shouting at clouds. 

On another note, not being a fan of crap pastries, I ate at a small Italian restaurant in Shepherd’s Bush (Bocconi). Just chanced it  
I had a lovely plate of beautifully cooked pasta for the price of a crappy supermarket sandwich meal deal (or Greg’s rubbish). 

Tremendous value for money. 

Dominic

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Every single driving lesson this happens at least once or twice. It's pretty rampant tbh.

I'm surprised the instructor allows you to do it !

Dominic

TheMarlin said:

i popped to Shepherds Bush for a gig a week or two ago.  My friend wanted something quick and dirty to eat, so popped into Greg’s. 
There were a bunch of what appeared to be 13 year olds in the doorway smoking the strongest skunk I’ve ever smelled. Didn’t give a damn. They weren’t sharing, each had their own massive spliffs. 
Staff couldn’t care less, thought this was normal perfectly acceptable behaviour for a Greg’s. Thought my reaction was hilarious. 

Maybe it’s me. Maybe this is normal, and I’m just an old man shouting at clouds. 

On another note, not being a fan of crap pastries, I ate at a small Italian restaurant in Shepherd’s Bush (Bocconi). Just chanced it  
I had a lovely plate of beautifully cooked pasta for the price of a crappy supermarket sandwich meal deal (or Greg’s rubbish). 

Tremendous value for money. 

I don't mind the drug -taking but it's lunacy when driving a car

darthed1981

Dominic said:

I don't mind the drug -taking but it's lunacy when driving a car

Drink driving is making a comeback as well (not that it ever went away for some people).

A lot of people where I work will happily have three pints if they go to the pub, or more, then drive.

A lot of people I know indirectly follow the "five and drive" rule.

Also a girl where I work, actually a very attractive one, currently drives her boyfriend everywhere as he got nicked driving after four pints following football training (so I guess, huge dick in more ways than one?)

...but seriously though, people need to actually obey the laws on phones, drink and drugs when driving, they exist to stop you killing people, including yourself.

Kilgore

Driving stoned is bad enough but I've seen  people skinning up while driving.

digitalscream

darthed1981 said:

...but seriously though, people need to actually obey the laws on phones, drink and drugs when driving, they exist to stop you killing people, including yourself.

I came across this after our gig on Friday. I have an absolute rule of no beer within five hours of driving - so I might have a bottle or two (or just one pint) when I've loaded my gear in, but that's it for the whole night (given that we arrive around 6pm and rarely leave before 11pm). After we'd played, I had a load of people offering to buy me a drink, but every single one looked shocked when I politely refused on account of the fact that I was driving home.

"A couple won't hurt, mate, you won't get caught!"

The idea that it's not getting caught that worries me seemed totally alien to them (it's more the fact that I wouldn't trust myself to be safe, while a bit tired, after a couple of beers).

VimFuego

it's the way the police turn a complete blind eye to this, but if you happen to fix quad mounted .50 cal machines guns and a rear mounted flame thrower, they're down on you like a ton of bricks. Blatant double standards if you ask me.

Modellista

Dominic said:

 ....this is a million times worse than somebody on a phone 

I don't think drugs and driving should mix.  But the above simply isn't correct.  The biggest US study - "after adjusting for age, gender, race and alcohol use, drivers who tested positive for marijuana were no more likely to crash than those who had not used any drugs or alcohol prior to driving".  The latest UK study in 2010 - "[studies show] failure to implicate cannabis consumption as an accident risk factor".  Basically there is no conclusive proof that being stoned makes you more dangerous, perhaps because stoned people know they are stoned (and therefore drive more slowly/carefully as a consequence).  You could argue this either way, but a drug that encourages people to drive more slowly and carefully by definition cannot be dangerous in the conventional sense.

Drunk people can't drive properly but don't give a shit.  Because they're drunk.

Conversely, mobile phone use has been proven to cause driving impairment - this is an excellent study regarding using social media while driving, which shows half a standard deviation impairment (that's a lot) and here's another one regarding talking on the phone - "overall there were clear costs to driving when drivers were engaged in cell phone conversations".

So cannabis isn't proven to make anyone dangerous on the roads, but phones are.  Booze is off the scale of course.

I'm not anti-cannabis but I do think it should be consumed in private.  Let's not forget Vincent Vega's sage words: "Yeah, it's legal, but it ain't a hundred percent legal. I mean you can't walk into a restaurant, roll a joint, and start puffin' away. You're only supposed to smoke in your home or certain designated places."  As far as I'm concerned cannabis is far less harmful that alcohol which is everywhere.  If you see stoners as alternatives to drunks they seem a lot less intimidating.

The talk of drink drivers is shocking.  "Five and drive"?  Fucking hell, that's insane.  It boggles my mind that people would take such a risk with their own driving licence, career, and other people's safety just for a drink.

darthed1981

digitalscream said:

The idea that it's not getting caught that worries me seemed totally alien to them (it's more the fact that I wouldn't trust myself to be safe, while a bit tired, after a couple of beers).

Unfortunately, that seems almost universal, it isn't wrong if you don't get caught

skunkwerx

How dare you. I dont smell... that bad...

darthed1981

Modellista said:

The talk of drink drivers is shocking.  "Five and drive"?  Fucking hell, that's insane.  It boggles my mind that people would take such a risk with their own driving licence, career, and other people's safety just for a drink.

I couldn't agree more mate.

Kilgore

The main risk factor in driving while stoned is driving too fast to the shop to get crisps and chocolate.

Modellista

Keiko

Yeah its dangerous out there. You can be the best driver in the world but still get killed by everyone elses stupidity on the road. Even just walking down a road as a pedestrian can kill you. There are some scary dashcam videos on youtube of innocent victim fatalities.

SouthpawMark

Can’t say I’ve ever noticed. Then again, I keep the windows closed and have air recirculating on, just in case there’s a chemical attack. 

ICBM

Wouldn't surprise me if the idiot who cut directly across in front of me on a roundabout from the outside lane to the exit today was on drugs - I was in the middle lane, going round to the next exit, and I had to come to a dead stop or hit him almost side-on.

More seriously, it is a real problem and it needs to be tackled. I also can't believe some of the people I know who think it's OK to have a couple of drinks and drive - and this is in Scotland, where the limit is (rightly) lower. I admit that I would have had one (and only one) drink if I wasn't driving for an hour or two when I was younger, but that was until I did one of those online calculators which showed how much alcohol was likely to still be in your system after that time. Not over the limit, but enough that it worried me, and I now don't drink at all if I'm going to be driving later that day.

Sassafras

I'm not condoning it but if you must drive under the influence I'd rather you were stoned than drunk, coked, smacked up or on ecstasy and whizz.