Drinking and cycling

Simon Brooke said:

I'm not replying to any post in particular so as not to single out anyone
in particular, but... many people here seem to think it's OK to cycle to
a pub, drink beer or other alcoholic beverage, and then cycle home again
on the public road.

I put it in the same category as drunk walking. If you get it wrong on
the way back from the pub you'll die.

Jon

Simon Brooke said:

I'm not replying to any post in particular so as not to single out anyone
in particular, but... many people here seem to think it's OK to cycle to
a pub, drink beer or other alcoholic beverage, and then cycle home again
on the public road.

I do this. Mainly I walk, but sometimes I cycle. Pottering back on a bike
at 15mph is a rather different thing than driving a tonne of metal at
40 mph.

Mind, it's not like I'm totally plastered. Three pints of weak beer is
my limit these days.

--
Arthur Clune

Simon Brooke said:

I'm not replying to any post in particular so as not to single out anyone
in particular, but... many people here seem to think it's OK to cycle to
a pub, drink beer or other alcoholic beverage, and then cycle home again
on the public road.

Am I the only person who thinks that's completely unacceptable? Or is
drunk cycling at the stage of public consciousness that drunk driving
was thirty years ago?

It's a bad idea to cycle on public roads if you haven't got all your
wits about you for whatever reason, but mostly because you are
endangering yourself - you need all your wits to deal with the
motorised traffic. Truth is, if you're so pished as to represent a
danger to others, you wouldn't have been able to get on the bike in the
first place, whereas with cars, people seem to be able to get in a
drive even when the can't stand.

Imaging the car was never invented - do you think we'd need laws like
this? I don't, Darwin would take care of things.

"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm not replying to any post in particular so as not to single out anyone
in particular, but... many people here seem to think it's OK to cycle to
a pub, drink beer or other alcoholic beverage, and then cycle home again
on the public road.

Am I the only person who thinks that's completely unacceptable? Or is
drunk cycling at the stage of public consciousness that drunk driving
was thirty years ago?

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/experts/mattseaton/0,,1660961,00.html

"And for those of us whose livelihood does not depend on keeping our body
fat below 5%, the temptation to drink and ride is even stronger. Arguably,
one of the unspoken advantages of riding a bike, as opposed to driving a
car, is that you can get away with having a couple of beers without losing
your licence. This is not to condone drink-riding in the slightest - I know
someone who needed extensive dental repairs after crashing into a bollard
while cycling drunk - but the working assumption is that, unlike
drink-driving a car, the only person the [censored] cyclist puts at risk is him
or herself."

Bit of a coincodence that you raise this a few hours after I posted ...
personally, going on the road with any alcohol you are taking your life into
your hands. Cycling without alcohol, you are taking your life into your
hands. So, the difference is that I'm impaired, however, comparing drunk
riding to drunk cycling are clearly not the same.

Whilst on the subject ... what quantifies drunk whilst on a cycle? AFAIK, a
doctor has to pronounce you drunk which means you have to be pretty bloody
[censored]. A few pints and I'm absolutely coherent and would have no problem
cycling home. There is no legal blood level, so it's down to the individual.

And if I'm "out on a bender" the bike gets left at home. I couldn't trust
that I'd remember where I left it, and that's only if I remember I brought
it in the first place. 😉

elyob said:

Whilst on the subject ... what quantifies drunk whilst on a cycle? AFAIK, a

ISTR that it's the same as the old standard for drunk driving

'Can sir walk in a straight line for me please' etc.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune

"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm not replying to any post in particular so as not to single out anyone
in particular, but... many people here seem to think it's OK to cycle to
a pub, drink beer or other alcoholic beverage, and then cycle home again
on the public road.

Am I the only person who thinks that's completely unacceptable? Or is
drunk cycling at the stage of public consciousness that drunk driving
was thirty years ago?

I thought that it was illegal to ride a bike over the driving limit (or was
it "drunk"😉.

As far as I was aware it came in the same bracket as drunk in charge of a
horse.

Could be wrong but surely someone up on the law could enlighten us.

DaveB

Jonathan Schneider said:

I put it in the same category as drunk walking.

About the size of it, and if not exactly the same box then at least the
one next to it. And that isn't Big Or Clever either, but for me an
acceptable risk.

Quoted message said:

If you get it wrong on
the way back from the pub you'll die.

Unlikely, though not beyond the realms of possibility that you'll have a
prang which hurts you, the bike and/or your clothes to some degree.

But the main point is that, unlike drunk driving, I'm not posing an
unacceptable risk to others. In fact I probably pose rather more risk
to others driving the car stone cold sober than I do riding the Brom
back along Perth Road from the pub after a couple of pints and games of
Go on a Monday night, and yet driving the car stone cold sober is
clearly felt acceptable by the vast majority.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

I know I'm guilty of jumping on my pushie after a few pints, and
therefore totally accept that it is my fault if I should fall off or hit
someone the way home, knock on wood as off now I haven't damaged me, my
bike or others on my journey home.

I know in some countries if you are over the drink drive limit and you
get stopped on your bicycle the law will take your driving license.

woollypigs

Simon Brooke said:

I'm not replying to any post in particular so as not to single out anyone
in particular, but... many people here seem to think it's OK to cycle to
a pub, drink beer or other alcoholic beverage, and then cycle home again
on the public road.

Am I the only person who thinks that's completely unacceptable? Or is
drunk cycling at the stage of public consciousness that drunk driving
was thirty years ago?

Peter Clinch said:

And that isn't Big Or Clever either, but for me an acceptable risk.

It's not certainly not big, but unless you've got a Trice or something,
it is quite clever - balancing on two wheels with your sense of balance
seriously impaired. And if you were to unicycle home from the pub -
that would be very clever indeed....

The fullest extend of my drunk driving : I once drank a pint of cider
and then cycled the mile home on quiet streets - and even then, as I
cycled, I knew that I was doing a stupid thing. As a cyclist, you might
be willing to accept increased risk for yourself but personally I
reckon it's out of order to increase the risk for *other* users of the
street & road - you're travelling fast enough to hurt someone if you
hit them, a bike is a nearly silent vehicle... that's enough to place a
weight of responsibility on you to remain unimpaired in your steering
and braking!

It's true enough that alcohol susceptabily varies quite widely from
person to person - but seeing as person can't objectively be trusted to
know just how drunk they are, I don't see that combining alcohol and
cycling can be justified. I'm a bit puritanical about alcohol in
general (I do drink, but mostly just to put fellow drinkers at their
ease!) so I guess my opinion may be a bit extreme.

best regards,
Roberto

sothach said:

Peter Clinch said:

And that isn't Big Or Clever either, but for me an acceptable risk.

It's not certainly not big, but unless you've got a Trice or something,
it is quite clever - balancing on two wheels with your sense of balance
seriously impaired. And if you were to unicycle home from the pub -
that would be very clever indeed....

There is a difference between having a pint or two, and being
staggering drunk. For most people the difference is a reasonable number
of drinks in between.

The offence is being drunk in charge (and also being drunk in a public
place). These are subjective assessments, so if you are weaving all
over the shop and crashing into things after 1 pint then that is too
much, wheras others could happily consume more than that and not be
noticeably impaired.

Drunk and disorderly requires the officer to prove that you were both
drunk and disorderly.

If you can maintain proper control of the vehicle then you have not
drunk too much..
Working out where that limit is can be problematic for some.

...d

woollypigs said:

I know in some countries if you are over the drink drive limit and you
get stopped on your bicycle the law will take your driving license.

That is the case in Germany - they can even take your license away in
advance, if you haven't got one yet. But to be fair, I think the
alcohol limit for a cyclist is twice that than for a motorist (1.6
promille compared to 0.8 for car drivers), plus you have to really get
the police's attention to get tested, at least, I've never heard of
them setting-up road blocks specifically for cyclist. If they did,
this joke would be on-topic:

Policeman: Do you have any alcohol remaining?
Cyclist: (hic) Nooo, I drank it all up
(ok, it looses everything in translation)

I know in Denmark the law is harder on the cyclist than here as they
will stop you if you jump the red light, you don't have the light on at
night or ride on the pavement and if you are stopped they will check the
state of your bikes.

And they will also stop you (as a cyclist) if they think that you are
under the influence of drugs, alcohol.

In Denmark it is like here your responsibility as the driver of the
vehicle to make sure that the car, motor bike, bicycle is road worthy
e.g. light, breaks and tires are up to scratch before you start your
journey.

woollypigs

sothach said:

woollypigs said:

I know in some countries if you are over the drink drive limit and you
get stopped on your bicycle the law will take your driving license.

That is the case in Germany - they can even take your license away in
advance, if you haven't got one yet. But to be fair, I think the
alcohol limit for a cyclist is twice that than for a motorist (1.6
promille compared to 0.8 for car drivers), plus you have to really get
the police's attention to get tested, at least, I've never heard of
them setting-up road blocks specifically for cyclist. If they did,
this joke would be on-topic:

Policeman: Do you have any alcohol remaining?
Cyclist: (hic) Nooo, I drank it all up
(ok, it looses everything in translation)

On 7 Aug 2006 03:05:28 -0700 someone who may be
[email hidden] wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

It's true enough that alcohol susceptabily varies quite widely from
person to person - but seeing as person can't objectively be trusted to
know just how drunk they are,

At the risk of sounding like a Daily Wail motoring correspondent
talking about (motor vehicle) speed limits, some people are
reasonably good at judging how drunk they are and so deciding
whether to use their bike as a wheeled Zimmer frame or as something
to pedal home on.

Quoted message said:

I don't see that combining alcohol and cycling can be justified.

Cycling involves physical effort in the open air, which clears the
head to some extent. If someone has enough co-ordination to cycle
along then they almost certainly have enough to steer and apply the
brakes in a proper fashion. Bikes have very much less mass and can
attain far lower speeds than motor vehicles. As a result of this any
extra danger is generally small and generally applies to the person
cycling. The same is not true for drunk motoring.

Quoted message said:

I'm a bit puritanical about alcohol in
general (I do drink, but mostly just to put fellow drinkers at their
ease!) so I guess my opinion may be a bit extreme.

There is nothing wrong with having such a view on this particular
drug. However, do you also avoid all the products that contain
alcohol?

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

"Dave" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm not replying to any post in particular so as not to single out

anyone

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in particular, but... many people here seem to think it's OK to cycle to
a pub, drink beer or other alcoholic beverage, and then cycle home again
on the public road.

Am I the only person who thinks that's completely unacceptable? Or is
drunk cycling at the stage of public consciousness that drunk driving
was thirty years ago?

I thought that it was illegal to ride a bike over the driving limit (or

was

Quoted message said:

it "drunk"😉.

As far as I was aware it came in the same bracket as drunk in charge of a
horse.

Could be wrong but surely someone up on the law could enlighten us.

DaveB

Just done some investigating and found the following in the Highway Code :
"You must not ride when under the influence of drink or drugs.
Law RTA 1988 sects 24, 26, 28, 29 & 30 as amended by RTA 1991"

Sections 24, 26,28, and 29 relate to Dangerous Riding et but 30 relates to
Cycling when under the influence of drink or drugs and states " 30.-(1) A
person who, when riding a cycle on a road or other public place, is unfit to
ride through drink or drugs (that is to say, is under the influence of drink
or a drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of
the cycle) is guilty of an offence.

(2) In Scotland a constable may arrest without warrant a person
committing an offence under this section.

(3) In this section "road" includes a bridleway."

So the only questionable part is whether you have proper control of your
bike.

DaveB

Simon Brooke said:

I'm not replying to any post in particular so as not to single out anyone
in particular, but... many people here seem to think it's OK to cycle to
a pub, drink beer or other alcoholic beverage, and then cycle home again
on the public road.

I have no problem with that. But then, I don't drink alcohol in
large volumes.

Quoted message said:

Am I the only person who thinks that's completely unacceptable? Or is
drunk cycling at the stage of public consciousness that drunk driving
was thirty years ago?

There is a quantitative difference. Exposed to the world, you have
inherently more awareness of what's going on around you than cocooned
in a cage. And that awareness is what alcohol impairs - you take
fractionally longer to notice things after a wee dram. Above all
there's the effect of exercise in metabolising the booze and
normalising the senses.

Bottom line, I'd never drive on more than one pint, but I wouldn't
hesitate to cycle on two.

--
not me guv

"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm not replying to any post in particular so as not to single out anyone
in particular, but... many people here seem to think it's OK to cycle to
a pub, drink beer or other alcoholic beverage, and then cycle home again
on the public road.

Am I the only person who thinks that's completely unacceptable? Or is
drunk cycling at the stage of public consciousness that drunk driving
was thirty years ago?

Things I have seen/heard of drunk cyclists doing : cycle off the side of the
road into the bushes. Getting told by plod that they probably ought to be
walking. Hitting a kerb and falling off. Riding round and round getting lost
in somewhere they knew perfectly well while sober.

Thinks I have heard of drunk drivers doing : Well, you know the answer to
that one.

Yes, I'm completely happy about people having a little drink and then
cycling. I'm not even too worried about people having far too much and then
cycling - from what I've seen, it's the rider at risk, not others. (FWIW I
don't subscribe to the uk.t argument of 'but what if I swerve to avoid a
cyclist and hit a mother and child on the pavement'😉.

If there was significant carnage caused by drunk cycling, then I'd be
against it. But we've got good evidence that there isn't - the streets of
Oxford and Cambridge aren't littered with bodies in the mornings for
example, and there is a huge amount of drunk cycling there for fairly
obvious reasons.

I've heard people on uk.t arguing that people coming home from the pub
shouldn't even walk - taxi, bus or sober driver only. Given the alcohol
levels of dead pedestrians, would you support this?

cheers,
clive

For the umpteenth time:

The law is
INCAPABLE OF RIDING A BIKE through drink or drugs.

So breath tests, milligrams, walking in straight lines and all that is
rubbish (as is points on license).

This means if you've just cycled a mile from the pub without falling off
then the test is passed by definition.

The only bad effects of drinking seven pints and cycling home is lack of
speed and need for hedgerows. But it improves your singing no end - A
price worth paying for an afternoon of community camaraderie.

--
PETER FOX Not the same since the exam marking business failed
[email hidden]
www.eminent.demon.co.uk - Lots for cyclists

I would never drink and cycle, for the following reasons:

1. When I cycle, I enjoy the expeirience and note how *fairly* good I am.
Being under the influence would take pleasure away.

2. When I drink, I usaully dance on tables waving my shirt around my head
and forget what a *huge* git I am. Not being under the influence would only
remind me.

I could not possibly mix the two.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The fullest extend of my drunk driving : I once drank a pint of cider
and then cycled the mile home on quiet streets - and even then, as I
cycled, I knew that I was doing a stupid thing. As a cyclist, you might
be willing to accept increased risk for yourself but personally I
reckon it's out of order to increase the risk for *other* users of the
street & road - you're travelling fast enough to hurt someone if you
hit them, a bike is a nearly silent vehicle... that's enough to place a
weight of responsibility on you to remain unimpaired in your steering
and braking!

It's true enough that alcohol susceptabily varies quite widely from
person to person - but seeing as person can't objectively be trusted to
know just how drunk they are, I don't see that combining alcohol and
cycling can be justified. I'm a bit puritanical about alcohol in
general (I do drink, but mostly just to put fellow drinkers at their
ease!) so I guess my opinion may be a bit extreme.

best regards,
Roberto