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Drink Driving Is An Act Of Irresponsibility!


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Drunk Driving  

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ST 14/5

 

Some try to outsmart the cops...and fail

 

A MAN driving under the influence of alcohol on Friday night was in high spirits, thinking he had found a clever way to outsmart the cops.

 

Noticing a police checkpoint along Outram Road, he stopped about 50m away and - without getting out of the car - swopped seats with a sober female passenger.

 

But the police have seen it all before, and an officer on the prowl spotted the switch right away.

 

The man, in his 30s, was made to take a breathalyser test, which he failed.

 

He was one of nine drink drivers hauled off the roads by the Traffic Police in road-block operations between 11.30 on Friday night and 4.45 the next morning. They made up close to 25 per cent of the 39 drivers who were made to take the test.

 

The Straits Times joined the police at two road blocks - one in Tampines Road and the other in Outram Road, just outside the Health Sciences Authority's mortuary.

 

This is where the bodies of people who die in road accidents are taken. Its most recent guest was a 28-year-old woman who died last Monday after being hit by a car driven by a 48-year-old drink driver along Outram Road.

 

The Tampines road block was held between 11.30pm and 2.30am along a stretch flanked by trees and a military compound. A total of 15 motorists were tested and three men - aged between 41 and 56 - were arrested.

 

In Outram Road between 2.45am and 4.45am, 24 motorists were tested. Six men aged between 22 and 57 were held for drink driving.

 

The Straits Times observed during the road blocks that the drink drivers' primary worry appeared to be that they would get caught - and concerns about posing a danger to other road users were far from their minds.

 

One of the four passengers of the driver who swopped seats said: 'Actually, if my friend hadn't swopped seats, the police might not even have noticed him.'

 

Just after 3am, one driver asked to stop and wind down the window, did so with the utmost reluctance. He refused to make eye contact with a police officer who asked him questions such as, where was he heading, where had he been earlier and how many drinks had he had.

 

'Just two glasses,' he replied while chewing on a sweet, adding that he was 'going home'.

 

This cut no ice with the officer who recognised the distinct smell of alcohol.

 

The man, who looked to be in his 20s, was politely asked to pull over to have his breath tested. He blew calmly into the breathalyser mouthpiece, but when he failed, he blurted out: 'Can I try again?'

 

However, the officers were having none of it and the man, looking dazed, was led away to a police car.

 

His girlfriend, who was standing nervously nearby, said this was the first time he had been arrested for drink driving. The couple had earlier been at Dragonfly, the Mando-pop section at St James Power Station.

 

The next man to be arrested was stopped at about 3.30am. He insisted he had had 'only one drink' at 10pm. 'I knew I would have to drive my friend home, so I didn't drink any more,' he claimed.

 

But officers, catching a faint whiff of alcohol, asked him to spit out the lozenge he had in his mouth so he could be tested by the hand-held breathalyser. When the machine displayed a 'fail' reading, he pleaded: 'I am okay... serious. Sir, I'm a driver... I need my licence.'

 

If found guilty of drink driving, the nine men arrested can each be fined up to $5,000, jailed up to six months and banned from driving for at least a year.

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ST 14/5

 

How a breathalyser works

 

WHEN alcohol-enriched blood passes through the lungs, some of the alcohol is diffused into the air inside the lungs.

 

When this deep-lung air is blown into a breathalyser, the breath sample is analysed. Sensors inside ensure the breath is from deep within the lungs.

 

The readings give micrograms of alcohol (ug) in 100ml of air. The legal limit here is 35ug per 100ml.

 

Consuming things such as liqueur-filled chocolate or a mouth spray containing alcohol can affect the reading, but this effect will dissipate in 10 to 15 minutes.

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ST 14/5

 

Police know the games drivers play

 

HAVING to check hundreds of vehicles every time a road block is set up, the Traffic Police have learnt well the games drink drivers play.

 

The urgent call ploy:

This involves a driver, noticing the flashing lights of a road block, stopping a distance away on the pretext of taking a phone call.

 

He may then just sit there in the hope that the police will go away.

 

But officers still approach these vehicles 'to see what is going on', a tactic which has led to a number of arrests.

 

The slow-and-run manoeuvre:

Some people try to sneak past the barriers - only to get into more trouble. Senior Staff Sergeant Hashim Phildoose said a driver in his 30s was told to pull over for a breath test in a recent operation. He 'inched forward, and then dashed through'.

 

The police gave chase and caught the man, who was drunk and driving on a suspended licence.

 

At road blocks, officers approach drivers, chat with them, note how they look and smell for alcohol before deciding if they should be tested.

 

They have to remain polite and professional at all times, even when drivers turn aggressive and push officers.

 

Senior Staff Sgt Hashim said road-block locations are a tightly guarded secret and 'I don't tell my team until the day and hour comes'.

 

However, Assistant Superintendent Chua Eng Hwee said safety is the primary consideration in deciding where to set up road blocks.

 

Manning road blocks aside, they also have responsibilities like responding to accidents at a moment's notice.

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14/5

 

Debunking some myths

 

# Drinking Chinese tea or non-alcoholic drinks does not dilute the concentration of alcohol in the blood, so the reading will still be accurate.

 

# Passing urine to eliminate alcohol from the system more quickly does not help because it is dependent on each individual's metabolic rate and how fast the person's liver is able to break down the alcohol.

 

# Using toothpaste, breath mints or mouthwash may mask the smell of alcohol in the breath, but the device is still able to detect alcohol content in the deep-lung air.

 

# Drinking on an empty stomach speeds up the rate of absorption, but it does not do anything to fool the breathalyser.

 

Source: Draeger Safety Asia's evidential breath-alcohol analysis machine manual and Snopes.com

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ST 14/5

 

They swear, struggle and refuse blood tests

 

THEY arrive at the accident and emergency wards bleeding and in pain like any other trauma patient.

 

But these alcohol-loaded casualties can make it difficult for the medical staff to do their job.

 

Said Dr Kenneth Heng Wei Jian, 37, a consultant with the accident and emergency department at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH): 'They sometimes swear at us, put up a struggle because they don't know where they are.

 

'Many of them also refuse to let us take their blood sample for the blood-alcohol content readings requested by the police.'

 

Their inebriated state also makes it hard for emergency doctors to make a diagnosis.

 

The most common problem for doctors treating drunk patients is differentiating whether their unconscious state is caused by the effects of alcohol or by injury.

 

Said Dr Heng: 'Last year, we had a case where a drunk elderly man came in after falling off his bicycle.

 

'He was unconscious but there wasn't a single scratch on his scalp. When he did not sober up as expected, we did a brain scan and found that he was bleeding in the brain from the impact of the fall.'

 

Dr Heng, who has been working at the TTSH emergency department for six years, has seen hundreds of drink drivers come through the ward.

 

Said Dr Heng: 'Accidents are not random, especially in cases involving alcohol. They are predictable in the sense that the motorist had a choice to not ride or drive if they had consumed alcohol.'

 

The TTSH's accident and emergency department saw more than 5,000 crash victims last year.

 

Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) paramedics - most often the first to arrive at crash sites - have seen their fair share of tragedy caused by drink driving.

 

SCDF paramedic Staff Sergeant Lee Chun Yuan, 30, recalled one accident where the drink driver could not be saved.

 

Said Staff Sgt Lee: 'The driver was in his early 20s, and had crashed into a tree. He reeked of alcohol. He was trapped in his car, so we tried to extricate him by using hydraulic cutters.

 

'He told me he was very afraid, and asked me to stay beside him. After 30 minutes, his heart stopped and he died.'

 

Dr Munidasa Winslow, head of the Institute of Mental Health's addiction medicine department, said depending on the size and gender of the person, two alcoholic drinks are enough to impair a person's judgment, even if his breath-alcohol reading is below the legal limit.

 

Among other things, alcohol tends to generate over-confidence, a trait seen in the motorists The Straits Times tested with breathalysers at three nightspots on Saturday.

 

Said Dr Winslow: 'This is what makes it even harder to persuade a tipsy person not to go behind the wheel, as they feel confident that they are able to drive safely.'

 

Mr Lim Koon Heng, 39, broke his neck in an accident over 15 years ago after his motorbike rammed into a road divider.

 

He and his friends had been drinking. It made him a tetraplegic at the age of 22.

 

Said Mr Lim: 'I couldn't walk. I couldn't even control my bowels. I felt very depressed and angry. I also felt very sorry for my parents, as they now had to take care of me.

 

'I really regret drink riding.'

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another letter to ST

 

May 12, 2007

Let's get tougher on drink drivers

IT IS disturbing to know that despite all the publicity and public education on the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol, drivers here are still continuing to do it.

For all these drivers who were involved in - and apprehended for - drink-drive related accidents, there must be a whole lot of others who got away with it only because they were lucky not to have damaged property or killed someone with their machines in the process.

Casting my mind back to the recent Virginia Tech massacre, the lesson is that guns do not kill people; gun-wielding people kill people.

Similarly here, cars do not kill people; drivers kill people.

I advise those who drive a car after having consumed alcohol to eradicate the notion from their head that they are careful drivers and will never get into an accident.

I intentionally did not use the term 'above the legal alcohol limit' because, in my mind, I am convinced that different levels of alcohol have varying effects on people, and that even if you think you are within the 'safe limit', you may still be intoxicated enough to cloud your judgment.

Another cause of vehicular accidents here seems to be distraction on the part of the driver, mostly because the driver was speaking on the cellphone with one hand while driving.

I believe drivers who use the cellphone while driving have the same attitude as drink-drivers - that they are careful drivers and would never get into an accident.

It is time we get tougher on these drivers. I have two proposals. One is to allow pictures or video evidence taken by the public to prosecute drivers they see using the cellphone while driving.

Hopefully, with the general public being brought in to police a seemingly innocuous act, we can reduce the chance of an accident resulting from drivers distracted by the use of cellphones while driving.

The other proposal is to amend the laws on drink-driving to include mandatory caning and an extended jail term with the possibility of the death penalty.

I am sure that all those people who have died in accidents at the hands of errant drivers - be they drink-driving or distraction/recklessness - would agree with my proposals.

With the mindset that 'it won't happen to me' prevalent in most drivers here, I believe every member of the public is a potential victim.

Do we really want to wait for more deaths before we get tougher on such irresponsible drivers?

Joseph Wong Yong Lye

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There will always be people who cannot control their urges and temptations and:

 

[knife][rifle][furious]

- Murder or assult someone else in their rage

- Become road bullies and threaten / assault people

- Have sex freely knowing full well the risk of VD and AIDS etc

- Indulge in drugs despite all the education and publicity about its dangers

- Smoke knowing that they take a lung cancer risk

- Buy a car knowing they cannot really afford it

- Gamble knowing the odds are against them

- Drive around with their children unbelted in the car

- Drive whilst talking on mobile phones

- Drive recklessly and endanger others

- Drive when sleepy / drowsy and endanger others (almost as bad as drink driving)

- Drink and drive and risk getting caught

 

No amount of enforcement will stop this.

But hopefully, reduce it.

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Neutral Newbie
Just to be on the safe side, if drink, don't drive.

 

As far as i know, if you happen to drink 2/3 glasses of liquor, and is still on the sober side well within the limit, something serious happen to you while driving, police were called and you will be charge with drink driving also. [nod]

 

Yeah...this morning newspaper also have this subject. Sad to see someone kena killed or maimed due to these drivers. Yes! we tend to believe that we can control the situation after drinking as we can still walk and think but at the end of the day, when something like a fatal accident happened then we will feel "very sorry". Then what is the point, how to tell someone's young kid or parents that due to drinking and some careless moment their loved one was killed by our action.

 

So...do the right thing. Drink don't drive...drive then don't drink. It is okay! You won't die for not drinking.

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Turbocharged

If you Drink, Don't Drive, If you Drive, Don't Drink.... If you want to Drink & Drive...... OF COURSE CAN..... Drink Coffee lor.... [nod]

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After reading all the reports... i think those drunk drivers really deserve to have their licence supended.. all the things they say implied that they are those "dun see coffin dun cry" mentality.

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the below is base i my own experience...

 

I used to drive home without knowing how i get home when i was younger...it is very dangerous...i don't do that now...but i still drink and drive nowadays or in fact everyday..its a matter of how much i drink only...drink and drive have become part of my life already...and it have also become part of my life that when i drink and drive....i will pay special attention when driving and drive within the speed limit...i drive more dangerously when i have not drink...drink driving is of course one of the reason for accident...but my personal view is that all more important goes down to the nature of the person...if he is a aggresive driver...he will also drive aggresive when he is sober...but then i also cannot disagree that a person sometime only show their true nature after drinking...so if don't drink and they don't show their true nature then accident will not happened...

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(edited)

Good luck to you..

 

just got 1 thing to add, if anyone found to be above legal limit, still will kanna TP, i dun think they give care whether did you drive aggressively or gently. They only care how much alcohol are there in yr blood.

 

even though there is only very little amount of alcohol in blood, as long as involved in accident, will be treated as drink-driving.

 

you said that you are more aggressive when sober, so are you sure you are not aggressive when you are drunk?

 

Anyway from your post, seems like you are unlikely to stop drink driving, but are driving more carefully when drunk as per your claim.. pls be careful on the road, for your own sake and other users sake

Edited by Chucky2007
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Neutral Newbie

You remind me of my commando colleague who was training in Thailand and the sober helicopter pilot waved at them, asked them to go up the chopper and did a stunt in the air before sending them down to the targeted area with up most precision. [sweatdrop][sweatdrop][sweatdrop]

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So...do the right thing. Drink don't drive...drive then don't drink. It is okay! You won't die for not drinking. [nod][nod][nod]
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Latest news

 

ST 17/5

 

Driver charged for hitting bus stop

 

A MAN who drove into a bus stop along Penang Road was charged with drink and dangerous driving as well as causing hurt to six women.

 

Wong Heng Chiang, a senior account executive in a logistics company, is alleged to have driven his Toyota Vios while under the influence of alcohol and in a dangerous manner at 9.23pm on May 1.

 

Wong, 27, is said to have caused the front right tyre of his car to hit the right road kerb, resulting in the car spinning towards the left side, mounted the road kerb and hit two concrete seats and six pedestrians.

 

The six victims are: clerk Fong Yoke Heng, 58, beautician Toh Tong Qian, 20, clinic assistant Ng Yong Nai, 54, student Tan Xiang Xi, 16, hawker Leng Lay Ling, 56, and Madam Tan Hong Eng, 67, the only one whom he had caused grievous hurt.

 

Wong, who is represented by a lawyer, is out on $10,000 bail.

 

A pre-trial conference will be held on May 28.

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