"Travellers"

[Ethan Thane Athen]

Bloody Poms . Two beers here is not two pints. It's two 300 ml small bottles. Well under 0.05.

Actually the important thing is that you are talking about proper beer and not that lager rubbish you've exported to the rest of the world.

It was actually a surprise to me to find Australia had some pretty decent real ales (Cooper's Dark is still one of our favourite and consistently good beers to home brew).

 

[WildCat]

It won't stop the bogany types. Texas made travelers illegal about 10 years ago, and every gas station still sells single beers on ice. Just more nanny government.

I think it's legal in Montana, though that may have changed in the last 10 years.

 

[Lamuella]

I think it's legal in Montana, though that may have changed in the last 10 years.

iirc, in Montana you can drive with an open container, but not drink.

 

[carlitos]

Let's assume for sake of argument that a man deserves two beers after a hard day's work. I'd rather have him drink 2 on the way, vs. 2 in a pub or on the job site car park. His average BAC during the commute if he drinks while driving will be lower that way. (It's simple math, for the first half of his commute, he's only 1 beer in) Not to mention, at the pub, he's much more likely to be persuaded to have a third.

 

[Lamuella]

Let's assume for sake of argument that a man deserves two beers after a hard day's work. I'd rather have him drink 2 on the way, vs. 2 in a pub or on the job site car park. His average BAC during the commute if he drinks while driving will be lower that way. (It's simple math, for the first half of his commute, he's only 1 beer in) Not to mention, at the pub, he's much more likely to be persuaded to have a third.

you're missing out the scenario where he goes to the pub, drinks two, and then drinks another two on his way home.

You're also missing out the scenario where he buys two beers, drives home, and drinks two beers at home.

 

[Damien Evans]

In the UK drinking a Coke can lead to a conviction. You can be charged with not being in proper control or Driving without Due Care and Attention.

Mobile Phone use was causing a lot of problems so a specific law was enacted to prohibit using a hand held phone while driving. You can still use one hands free.

Who the heck would want to drnik alcohol while they were driving anyway?

We're Australian. It's what we do.

 

[Damien Evans]

Bloody Poms . Two beers here is not two pints. It's two 300 ml small bottles. Well under 0.05.

Speak for yourself! I almost always drink Pints or Longnecks.

 

[Foolmewunz]

It won't stop the bogany types. Texas made travelers illegal about 10 years ago, and every gas station still sells single beers on ice. Just more nanny government.

Well, that ought to take some of the adventure out of night time driving in Houston. Only place I've ever been where beer is a unit of linear measurement. I can remember a conversation something like,

Guy who was driving me to wherever it was: "Hey, Ed! 'Bout how far is it on the Belt?"
Ed: "I make it half a sixpack."

 

[Andy_Ross]

Let's assume for sake of argument that a man deserves two beers after a hard day's work. I'd rather have him drink 2 on the way, vs. 2 in a pub or on the job site car park. His average BAC during the commute if he drinks while driving will be lower that way. (It's simple math, for the first half of his commute, he's only 1 beer in) Not to mention, at the pub, he's much more likely to be persuaded to have a third.

How about going home first then drinking the beer?

Drinking and driving is knbown to kill people and can be avoided by not drinking then driving.

Where does someones assumed right to drink alcohol while driving over rule someones right not to be killed by a drink driver.

 

[Antiquehunter]

As someone who has partaken of 'Road Rockets' in the past (but not in the last 3 months, anyways)...

I have always assumed that I was breaking the law when doing this. And have used appropriate precautions when having a beer in the drink holder. ie - don't drink it when anyone is watching me, and have an exit strategy for the beverage in the event I am pulled over.

Its a stupid thing, that I sometimes do. And it probably should be illegal if not already, for obvious reasons.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Just keep thinking it's stupid when you run into something and the cops have you in the back of the Cruiser. Instead of just an accident and taking some details it will be off to a cell and intoximeter test and in the UK anyway a minimum driving ban of 18 months.

 

[Antiquehunter]

Yes, you can spare me the judgemental observations. I'm not suggesting I'm above the law.

I am suggesting that I can a) understand the mentality why in certain conditions people may want to have a 'road rocket' and b) understand that this should be against the law.

Rest assured I don't do this when I'm driving in urban / difficult situations. Not that this makes it 'OK'. But driving say... in the Atacama desert where one is lucky to pass a vehicle every 10 minutes, greatly reduces the risk that anything untoward would happen.

 

[Wildy]

Why would we want to be encouraging drink driving on any level? Legal or not, the message it sends to condone drinking behind the wheel makes no sense.

Exactly. I don't understand how other people think that this is a problem.

 

[carlitos]

How about going home first then drinking the beer?

Drinking and driving is knbown to kill people and can be avoided by not drinking then driving.

Where does someones assumed right to drink alcohol while driving over rule someones right not to be killed by a drink driver.

You missed lionking's earlier point. Society has made the law the legal BAC limit. In Victoria's case, it's .05. So, it's already legal to have 2 beers and then drive. Why is having 2 beers while driving different?

If it's distracted driving you're worried about, it's also legal to drink 2 beers, then drive while drinking something else non-alcoholic, like a bottled water.

 

[Antiquehunter]

If it's distracted driving you're worried about, it's also legal to drink 2 beers, then drive while drinking something else non-alcoholic, like a bottled water.

Well, I get where this is counter-intuitive. However if the intention overall is to reduce drink-driving, then it stands to reason one shouldn't drink WHILE driving.

I am curious however - is the law worded such that it is verboten to DRINK while driving, or is the law against having an open container of an alcoholic drink, while operating a motor vehicle? Because then the onus would be on the police to show evidence that they saw you actually DRINK your roadie. Pretty hard to prove.

It is probably a law that will be used to either add to the impact of someone already facing a drink driving offence, or where someone passes the 0.05 breathalyzer but needs to be taught a lesson.

Again, having driven in some pretty remote parts of Oz (Darwin and surrounding areas) - I wouldn't have too much of a problem if someone wanted to have a roadie while driving on a rarely travelled and well-maintained highway (staying under the legal limit). In the city where traffic is nutty, or at night where animals are a significant risk - probably a dumbish idea to be nursing a Diet Coke OR a beer - or engaging in any distractive activity.

 

[lionking]

In the city where traffic is nutty, or at night where animals are a significant risk - probably a dumbish idea to be nursing a Diet Coke OR a beer - or engaging in any distractive activity.

And that's a fair argument. It's not the government's one though because it's legal to drink a coke. And in the article I attached to the OP, they are not concerned about any possible danger, it's because it "sends the wrong message"

 

[Rat]

Now I'm confused. What's the difference between a bogan and an ocker? Is there overlap, or is one a subset of the other? Are there other categories in the spectrum of working class Australians?

Anyway, as both a driver and a keen drinker of beers, I can honestly say that I would never dream of doing them simultaneously. Even if it's not consistent to ban doing so, but not drinking beforehand, it seems like a brilliant way to get pulled over by the police, which is at best an inconvenience.

On the distraction theme, though, I frequently drink Coke while driving, and also smoke. I think I have it well hammered into my head that in the face of a real emergency, control of the vehicle has higher priority than the other two; I can pick up the fag when I've come to a stop. I wouldn't use a mobile phone while on the move, handsfree or otherwise. I find that in some situations at tricky junctions and the like I can't even keep up a conversation with a passenger.

 

[Antiquehunter]

And that's a fair argument. It's not the government's one though because it's legal to drink a coke. And in the article I attached to the OP, they are not concerned about any possible danger, it's because it "sends the wrong message"

Fair enough - I agree that 'sending the wrong message' isn't a very strong policy position.

Are there open container laws in Oz? Are you allowed to say, walk down the street carrying an open beer?

Open container laws are pretty widely used in Canuckistan and the USA, to cut down on 'bad behaviour' and public drunkenness. To be honest, my experience with these laws is that they're rarely enforced, and only crop up when the police are faced with a need to break up a party that has gone out of hand, or an excuse to take away a homeless person to the lockup, or something equally banal. Anyways - if Oz had this sort of open container law, they could probably do away with this stupid 'no road-rocket' law. Just make the penalty stiffer if your open container is in a vehicle.

 

[Rat]

On the other hand, I did find an alcohol-free beer of a well-known make that you can't tell from first glance is the alcohol free version -- it's not like Beck's where the label is a different colour. I was sorely tempted to keep some of them in the car to drink while coasting past a police car, but then I remembered how much fun it's been every time I've had dealings with the police.

 

[carlitos]

I wouldn't do that. Most NA beer is labeled "less than 0.5% alc/vol" so it's not technically an alcohol-free beverage.