Kerry Drink Driving Permit

[Lecale2]

Two words. Embarrassing.

[Canalman]

Guys, you really have to hand it to the Healy Raes............. some amount of publicity and interviews for a nonstarter of a  proposal (as they well know). Rabble rousing / vote garnering /"showing that shower up in Dublin" at its best . Fair play to them.

Can't believe so many have fallen for it.

[magpie seanie]

Guys, you really have to hand it to the Healy Raes............. some amount of publicity and interviews for a nonstarter of a  proposal (as they well know). Rabble rousing / vote garnering /"showing that shower up in Dublin" at its best . Fair play to them.

Can't believe so many have fallen for it.

Exactly. They know it won't work, have no idea how to solve it but they've raised awareness of what for many is an issue. Many of their constituents will say - "at least they tried something and understand the problem". All politics is local.

[thewobbler]

Right, this is going to sound a bit daft, but stay with me. There is some sense in it.

There's a lot of nonsense on this thread about about "it's never acceptable to drink and drive". I'm sorry to tell you folks, that stance does not help anyone. It happens, and will continue to happen. The best we can do is make it all more transparent.

I'd propose a solution that puts the onus back on the drink driver. I call it the pink light system. I'm only choosing pink as it's a colour not in use by emergency services or road services, and not because I'm promoting gay friendliness.

- You could purchase a "pink light" from your local Halfords or the like. It would work in the same way as a removable police light.
- When you've had a bit to drink, you put the pink light on top of your car until you get home. By applying the pink light, you fall under the same rules as an 'R" driver up north i.e. speed capped at 45mph, and much more severe points penalties for traffic indiscretions.
- When you have a pink light on, you are allowed an increased alcohol blood level. Let's just say (for now), something along the effects of 4 pints in past 3 hours.
- When you have a pink light on, the police have the right to pull you over for a test/sample/chat without you having had any driving indiscretion or misdemeanour.

What I'm getting at here is:

- The drink drivers of this world can make it clear to road users and pedestrians that they've had a few.
- It's still bound by law. You can and will lose your license for drunk driving (rather than drink driving).
- The boy racers are bound to a 45mph limit, or they lose the books.
- Anybody found with any trace of alcohol in their system, and not displaying a pink light, loses the books immediately.
- The onus is moved away from state responsibility to personal responsibility. If you've been drinking, don't cover it up.
- Insurers can choose to approve or decline the right to use a pink light.

[deiseach]

Guys, you really have to hand it to the Healy Raes............. some amount of publicity and interviews for a nonstarter of a  proposal (as they well know). Rabble rousing / vote garnering /"showing that shower up in Dublin" at its best . Fair play to them.

Can't believe so many have fallen for it.

If people in Kerry want to vote en masse for a family of parasites, that's their entitlement. And the rest of us are entitled to view it for what it is.

[theticklemister]

Wobbler were ye drunk when you wrote that?

No pun intended.

Its like tellng people ye take drugs; but only sometimes.

[thewobbler]

Wobbler were ye drunk when you wrote that?

No pun intended.

Its like tellng people ye take drugs; but only sometimes.

See I look at it the other way, and suggest it's like telling people you're a conscientious, sensible road user who is driving cautiously this evening for good reason - and not one who is running the gauntlet.

[blanketattack]

Guys, you really have to hand it to the Healy Raes............. some amount of publicity and interviews for a nonstarter of a  proposal (as they well know). Rabble rousing / vote garnering /"showing that shower up in Dublin" at its best . Fair play to them.

Can't believe so many have fallen for it.

If people in Kerry want to vote en masse for a family of parasites, that's their entitlement. And the rest of us are entitled to view it for what it is.

Kerry has a population of 145,000. At the last elections Danny-Healy Rae got 3,000 votes. Michael Healy-Rae got 6,600 votes. With the huge crossover of votes, I would say the figures show that approx. 95% of Kerry people didn't vote for the Healy-Raes in the last election.
Kerry voters have been slated for voting in the Healy-Raes yet never a word is said about the Dublin voters voting in Bertie Ahern and Charlie Haughey or half the country voting in their own local crooks, scoundrels and gombeens.

If you're going to build a wall around Kerry because of the Healy-Raes then build a wall with motion sensored machine guns around Dublin for voting in Bertie and Charlie and also have walls around Tipp for Lowry, Limerick for O'Dea, etc.
And of course let's not forget Donegal where Jim McDaid got voted in, 2 years after getting into a car when more than 3 times over the then drink driving limit and driving down the wrong way of a dual carriageway.

[deiseach]

See I look at it the other way, and suggest it's like telling people you're a conscientious, sensible road user who is driving cautiously this evening for good reason - and not one who is running the gauntlet.

I can see a flaw in your argument - your "conscientious, sensible road user" is drunk.

[deiseach]

Kerry has a population of 145,000. At the last elections Danny-Healy Rae got 3,000 votes. Michael Healy-Rae got 6,600 votes. With the huge crossover of votes, I would say the figures show that approx. 95% of Kerry people didn't vote for the Healy-Raes in the last election.
Kerry voters have been slated for voting in the Healy-Raes yet never a word is said about the Dublin voters voting in Bertie Ahern and Charlie Haughey or half the country voting in their own local crooks, scoundrels and gombeens.

If you're going to build a wall around Kerry because of the Healy-Raes then build a wall with motion sensored machine guns around Dublin for voting in Bertie and Charlie and also have walls around Tipp for Lowry, Limerick for O'Dea, etc.
And of course let's not forget Donegal where Jim McDaid got voted in, 2 years after getting into a car when more than 3 times over the then drink driving limit and driving down the wrong way of a dual carriageway.

People can say all those things and do say all those things.

[johnneycool]

I don't think it's a good idea to have 4 pints and drive home with or without a pink light on yer roof.

How many people go to the pub intending to have 4 pints and end up having 5 or 6 pints?

Those people are still going to drive home.

Exactly right, whereas there is a difference between having a drink and being drunk, a drunk person rarely admits they're drunk especially if it meant not having a way home.

I couldn't give a shít if a drunk driver killed themselves, it'd be other road users I'd be afraid for.

[No Soloing]

I don't think it's a good idea to have 4 pints and drive home with or without a pink light on yer roof.

How many people go to the pub intending to have 4 pints and end up having 5 or 6 pints?

Those people are still going to drive home.

Maybe if you had 5 or 6 pints you could use a purple light 

[thewobbler]

I don't think it's a good idea to have 4 pints and drive home with or without a pink light on yer roof.

How many people go to the pub intending to have 4 pints and end up having 5 or 6 pints?

Those people are still going to drive home.

I guess what I'm proposing here is for the middleground.

- - - -

There's hordes of people in every county in Ireland who quite happily get in a car after a skinful of pints, and drive home/to the next pub. A zero tolerance policy an alcohol in your system doesn't matter to these people; they've already decided that they're happy to tun the gauntlet.

Within that group there's a particularly horrible cohort who as well as being drunk, are bad drivers anyway, and their inconsideration for others is exacerbated by drunkenness.

Within that cohort there's an especially revolting faction who as well as being drunk and inconsiderate, think they're superman too when behind the wheel of a car, and are reckless.

There's all sorts of personalities in there, but the common issue is that the law doesn't matter to them. So all we can do is hope the police catch them and the judges nail them.

- - - -

The middle ground is the (in my opinion) overwhelming number of people on the island who are law-abiding, considerate and cautious in how they drive. If they have a road accident, it's an accident.

But because of the actions of the group above have forced us to have strict drink driving laws, then this majority group of sensible people cannot have a few drinks and then drive.

All i'm suggesting, much like Healy Rae, is that the middle ground is given an option. I'm not looking to promote reckless driving in any way. Limits would still exist and still be enforced - indeed even more firmly.

[Lar Naparka]

I know Healy-Rae is yer typical cute Kerry hoor and all that but he still has merit in his arguments.
I know that what he's looking for will never become law (and he knows that too) but at least he's highlighting the social problems of those in isolated rural communities. I suppose there must be one law for everybody but that means the farmer in Aclare that hops up onto his Massey Ferguson after a hard day's haymaking is as guilty as a yuppie in Dublin who has only a few hundred yards to go.
Ted Nealon, the former Fine Gael TD once made this point. I know Aclare and I understood what he was saying but like the bould Jackie, he was laughed off the proverbial stage.
However, I still have sympathy for all the farmers in Aclare.

[deiseach]

I know Healy-Rae is yer typical cute Kerry hoor and all that but he still has merit in his arguments.
I know that what he's looking for will never become law (and he knows that too) but at least he's highlighting the social problems of those in isolated rural communities. I suppose there must be one law for everybody but that means the farmer in Aclare that hops up onto his Massey Ferguson after a hard day's haymaking is as guilty as a yuppie in Dublin who has only a few hundred yards to go.
Ted Nealon, the former Fine Gael TD once made this point. I know Aclare and I understood what he was saying but like the bould Jackie, he was laughed off the proverbial stage.
However, I still have sympathy for all the farmers in Aclare.

Why not say "the gombeen man in Aclare that hops into his brand new Merc after a hard day's milking the social welfare system [© Kevin McAleer] is as guilty as a hard-grafting factory worker in Clondakin who only has a few hundred yards to go"?