Motorhome Fun less fun with the new alcohol recommendations? (1 Viewer)

Aug 19, 2013
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Someone was complaining that this Forum was less Fun and more Motorhommy nowadays. With these new drink recommendations can we expect even less Fun, since we are such a responsible and sensible group of individuals?

Perhaps the Forum could be renamed Motorhome Nearly Dry Not Quite as Much Fun?
 

Badknee

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Living the dream.
As N&N says, drink as much as you like but sleep it off and make sure you leave enough time before you drive. (y)

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Don Quixote

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Not long enough, but a little common sense helps..........
Someone was complaining that this Forum was less Fun and more Motorhommy nowadays. With these new drink recommendations can we expect even less Fun, since we are such a responsible and sensible group of individuals?

Perhaps the Forum could be renamed Motorhome Nearly Dry Not Quite as Much Fun?
I will have a pint of whatever your drinkingo_O Not a clue what your on about........
 

hilldweller

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The operative word is "recommendation".

How old are most of us ? How dead are most of us ? We live in a world of too many experts, all out for their few minutes of glory.

You have to die some time, now that is not up for debate. You can die pissing yourself in an old people's home or go out in glory in your MH.

moritori te salutant.
 
Feb 24, 2013
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I saw a follow up article on the BBC from a doctor in Scotland, putting the drinking issue into perspective

If you smoke you have a 50/50 chance of dying early due the effects

Drink 2 drinks a day you have a 1/200 chance of dying early due to the effects

I think it is good to be aware, but wrong to try and scare us, the real effects of moderate drinking do not appear to justify the proposal, there are plenty of tales of folk reaching 100 and telling us they have had a drink every day since they were young :)

Total respect to those that don't drink for whatever reason, but I will continue to enjoy mine (y)

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nobby &noo

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@Dorwyn

the very best years of my life have been alcohol free ..
when drinking I never found alcohol to be much fun.. .. it destroyed many years of my life.. cost me my family, job an almost my sanity .

.. why do you need drink to have fun ?

just asking
how mich did you drink thou,there is drinking and then there is DRINKING.I don't see having 2 or 3 glasses a night whilst away being a bad thing.

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dippingatoe

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I think they out to demonise the drinkers as they have done with the smokers.I think everything in moderation isn`t harmful, it`s when it takes over your life.:):):)

Yes - and just think if they can tax alcohol like they have cigarettes - 'For your own good of course' They will be onto a real winner and.....'all in our best interests'
 
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Someone was complaining that this Forum was less Fun and more Motorhommy nowadays. With these new drink recommendations can we expect even less Fun, since we are such a responsible and sensible group of individuals?

Perhaps the Forum could be renamed Motorhome Nearly Dry Not Quite as Much Fun?
Can I have some of what you're smoking seems like good shite man
 
May 31, 2015
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Just had a thought ......
If your sat in your car in a car park and you've been drinking and the cops come along you'd be done for DD....
What would be the case for sitting in your motorhome in a car park where you intend to stay the night but you've had a few...?

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scotjimland

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Just had a thought ......
If your sat in your car in a car park and you've been drinking and the cops come along you'd be done for DD....
What would be the case for sitting in your motorhome in a car park where you intend to stay the night but you've had a few...?


Alcohol and sleeping in your motorhome

We ask Philip Somarakis, an expert motoring lawyer with Davenport Lyons, what the legal implications are of parking into a pub car park, having a few alcoholic drinks and then getting back into your motorhome to sleep it off.


Driving one’s “home” to the public house is a pretty good idea to avoid drinking and driving as you now have a pub on your doorstep. Motorhome owners should however be cautious about the risks of being "drunk in charge" of a motorhome if they are staying overnight in the car park.


If you are drunk “in charge” of your motorhome on a road or “public place” you can be arrested by the police and could lose your licence if convicted. This article looks at whether a parking area for motorhomes next to a pub amounts to a “public place” and also what being “in charge” of a motorhome means. We also focus on the scenario where you have evening dinner and drinks.


Pub car parks and opening hours

A pub car park is a “public place” during opening times because there is an implied invitation to the public to drive in and park up to use the pub. The position may change after the pub has closed. In a 1974 court case a person was found not guilty because the prosecution had failed to prove that the invitation to the public to use the car park next to the pub extended one hour after closing time (the time when the police had come to the car park and found the person at the wheel). However, each case is different; for example a pub adjacent to a Premier Inn with 24-hour reception facilities could mean the car park may be viewed as remaining a public place at all times.


Segregated parking during opening hours

Even where there is apparent segregation, by some control system designed to separate motorhome drivers from other patrons, a reserved parking area may still be regarded as a public place. The law is not clear, but it would appear that at least during the day when the pub is open, imposing a control system which only allows motorhome owners into a segregated area would not necessarily prevent that area from being a public place – because such owners would still be regarded as “the public”.

Conversely, if that area was limited to motorhome owners from a defined association, there were barriers/notices and a control system clearly in place then it would be more likely to be regarded as a private place. However a parking place saying “reserved” on it would not do.

Where the law is clear is that if there was a blanket restriction on anyone turning up after the pub has closed and parking up, it is obvious that at that time of night the car park would ordinarily be regarded as private and not a public place.


Drunk in charge of a motorhome

There is no definitive answer to what amounts to being "in charge." If you are the owner or in possession of the vehicle or have recently driven it you will be “in charge”, unless you have put the vehicle in the charge of someone else.

Control over the keys is a good indication of being in charge but is not conclusive.

However that does not mean that an owner is continuously in charge because, in some cases, control of the vehicle has clearly ceased.

The courts accept that an owner is not in control where he was a great distance from the vehicle and there was no realistic possibility of his resuming actual control whilst unfit/over the limit.

Whilst that may suggest that when in the pub “control” by the owner has ceased, the courts may see it differently because of the intention to return to the vehicle at the end of the evening.




Will the police bother you?

Anyone charged with “drunk in charge” of a motorhome has a defence in law. They have to prove that there was “no likelihood of them driving whilst over the prescribed limit”. This can be a complicated process and involves an assessment of what your alcohol levels would be at the time you did intend to drive. Normally this involves having to use a forensic expert to calculate alcohol levels

Here’s an example. You’ve had a couple of pints and shared a bottle of wine with your wife. It’s 11pm and the pub closes in 20 minutes. You are both tired. You suspect you are both over the limit but you don’t have to worry because you are not going anywhere and are not setting off until the morning and after breakfast. As you leave the pub, you see parked up next to your motorhome, a police car. After all, pub car parks are obvious targets by the police for suspected drink drivers.

What do you do? Wait for them to leave or for the pub to close so the car park is no longer a “public place” perhaps? Or stride forth? You might arouse suspicion if they catch you doing a U turn and going back into the pub. If you stride forth yes they may get out and speak to you but one would expect most police officers to take a sensible view here. You are not going to drive off. You are not going to sit in the driver’s seat and fiddle with the controls. If they do ask you what you are doing you will tell them that you are retiring to bed.

All the police want to do is to ensure that drink drivers are apprehended. However, if you have had a lot of alcohol, are clearly drunk and are intending to drive the following morning, you are placing yourself at greater risk here. You will be more of a concern to them, either that they think you are about to drive over the limit, or after your explanation, that you intend to the morning after when alcohol will still be in your system.

The police do charge people with being drunk in charge but normally these tend to be people found slumped behind the wheel of a car in the street outside a house (usually a result of a domestic dispute). Clearly they arouse suspicion and as sleeping in a car is not particularly comfortable, will increase the likelihood of that person driving off (whilst over the limit).

If you drive to a pub with the intention of parking up and drinking, where the land in question is not truly “private” and where you know eventually you will be driving back at some point, you need to bear in mind that the police will assume you remain in control of that vehicle and to them, could drive it at any point.

So consider where you are parking up, whether you might under any circumstances have to move the vehicle and bear in mind it is not uncommon for police to occasionally stop outside pubs. Have a thought to how much you are drinking particularly if you do intend to drive the following day.



Before you start drinking alcohol, you must:

· Make sure your motorhome is already parked up for the night. Do not take the risk of having to move it later to the right place, even if it's just a short distance within the car park or into an adjacent field

· Ensure your motorhome is not causing an obstruction. You should always consider whether you might be asked to move it later so

· Have some evidence if possible of the duration of your stay, so that you could prove your intention to sleep overnight in the car park


After you've had a drink of alcohol, you must:

· Never start up the engine in your motorhome

· Never place the key in the ignition

· Never sit behind the steering wheel or in the driver’s seat if it is facing forwards

Any or all of the above could be taken as indicators that you may be contemplating driving the motorhome and are more likely to attract attention from the police.
And always remember that if you've had a lot of alcohol to drink, you may still be over the legal limit the following morning.





The police’s view

A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said:

“Regardless of whether you are a driver of a campervan or any other kind of vehicle, the rules of Highway Code and the laws around drink driving remain the same.
“Drivers should not attempt to move any vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs and should always ensure they are parked in a safe and secure location.
“If a person is in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place after consuming excess alcohol then that person is guilty of an offence unless they can prove at the time of the alleged offence the circumstances were such that there was no likelihood of their driving the vehicle.
“The advice from the police is clear. Do not drink and drive or put yourself or anyone else at risk.”


More information

The rules related to being in charge of a vehicle and alcohol are covered by The Road Traffic Act 1988. You can view it here http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/4
 

Judge Mental

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Just had a thought ......
If your sat in your car in a car park and you've been drinking and the cops come along you'd be done for DD....
What would be the case for sitting in your motorhome in a car park where you intend to stay the night but you've had a few...?

Do as the Italians do say it's impossible to move on as you have had a drink and go back to bed.....
 
OP
OP
Dorwyn
Aug 19, 2013
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Can I have some of what you're smoking seems like good shite man
Not had any of that for years - and then just that famous celeb (whichever one it was), I didn't take it down. It doesn't take much to squiff me. Drink or spliff, I'm cheap to run.

I'm going to watch what I drink from now on. All the way to my mouth.

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Charlie

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Yes - and just think if they can tax alcohol like they have cigarettes - 'For your own good of course' They will be onto a real winner and.....'all in our best interests'

Errr they do tax alcohol.....

It must have been a no news day yesterday so they announced yet another banal set of rubbish....

I sometimes wonder just what we can eat or drink that is safe ? Can't be much left ?
 

Judge Mental

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I have stopped drinking altogether in the new year .....Fink everyone else should as well!:coffee:
In two weeks I have saved £80 as was drinking two bottles of scotch a week...mind you it feels longer:LOL:

In all seriousness feel much better and lost 5 kg already
 
OP
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Dorwyn
Aug 19, 2013
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I have stopped drinking altogether in the new year .....Fink everyone else should as well!:coffee:
In two weeks I have saved £80 as was drinking two bottles of scotch a week...mind you it feels longer:LOL:

In all seriousness feel much better and lost 5 kg already
I'm planning to do this. I'll just open this last bottle .... and so on. BUT, I really will. Soon. ish.

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PeteH

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Basically ALL about earning "brownie points" and CASH. It is obvious, to all except the legal profession and stupid young plod. that IF you are asleep or at rest in your M-H or Caravan you are going no where prior to the next day! Usual P-C Bull!. and NO common-sense.

Pete
 
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Don't forget that invisible killer is out there everywhere, take small breaths and live longer :doh:

oxygen.png
 

Popeye

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@Dorwyn

the very best years of my life have been alcohol free ..
when drinking I never found alcohol to be much fun.. .. it destroyed many years of my life.. cost me my family, job an almost my sanity .

.. why do you need drink to have fun ?

Jim I know that drinking destroyed much if not all of what you held dear, I am however saddened by your tale and I have read it on this Forum many times. The Laird of Dunstan gives us a similar tale of woe.

My DIL's brother is an alcoholic and it is destroying him and his family.

I used to buy Alcohol for visitors at Christmas and whatever was left would stay in the cupboard until the next Christmas, that was how little I drank up until a few years ago.

Now when out with friends (funsters or otherwise) I have a few drinks and I thouroughly enjoy the effect that it has on me and I know when to stop as do many others.

I most certainly do NOT need alcahol to have Fun as you put it and it doesn't improve the Fun it merely accelerates it by lowering inibitions.

There are also many benefits to Alcohol consumption and I quote;



1. It Can Lower Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease

2. It Can Lengthen Your Life
Drinking occasionally could add a few years to your life. A study by the Catholic University of Campobasso reported that drinking less than four or two drinks per day for men and women respectively could reduce the risk of death by 18 percent, as reported by Reuters.

3. It Can Improve Your Libido
Contrary to prior beliefs, newer research has found that moderate drinking might actually protect against erectile dysfunction in the same way that drinking red wine might benefit heart disease.

4. It Helps Prevent Against the Common Cold

5. It Can Decrease Chances Of Developing Dementia
In a study that included more than 365,000 participants since 1977, as reported in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, moderate drinkers were 23 percent less likely to develop cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

6. It Can Reduce The Risk Of Gallstones
Drinking two units of alcohol per day can reduce the risk of gallstones by one-third, according to researchers at the University of East Anglia. The study found that those who reported consuming two UK units of alcohol per day had a one-third reduction in their risk of developing gallstones. "Researchers emphasized that their findings show the benefits of moderate alcohol intake but stress that excessive alcohol intake can cause health problems," according to the study.

7. Lowers The Chance Of Diabetes

So all in all, I'm going to take my chances okay?

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