A very serious post...

[ninebob]

Guys,

I feel I have to tell you this, I've had to tell all my "real-life" friends today and this is like a community on here also.

Drinking and driving - don't do it.

I had been in the pub most of the afternoon yesterday and then carried on round at a mate's house. At about 4am we ran out of fags. Grantham's only 24hour garage is shut for renovation so I made the monumentally stupid decision to nip down the A1 to Colsterworth. As I pulled into the side road for the petrol station I spotted a police car, the occupants of which clearly saw me. In another stupid-judgement moment I floored it in the vain hope of losing them.

At that point I lost it and put the car in the ditch.

I now have a written off Xantia, and am on bail to attend court on Wednesday. I am told I am looking at a custodial sentence on account of how far over the limit I was, and that it's my second offence (last time I was only just over, on my way to work the morning after).

Words cannot express how much of a tw@t I feel, and how sh*t scared I am of prison.

It really brought it home when the interviewing officer asked me how I would have felt had another car been on the road at the point when I spun it. It doesn't bear thinking about.

So guys, please learn from MY mistake, just don't do it. And if you don't hear from me for a few months, you'll know why.

Simon

 

[TexMex]

Sounds like NOW would be a good time to give up smoking, or actually, last week would have been better.

Sorry, I shouldn't rub it in but just couldn't resist.

 

[david and julie]

Very sad post this Simon. I can see you already feel terrible but being realistic the copper said it all. They are the ones who have to knock on peoples doors with the bad news and thankfully this is not the case this time.

I am sure you don't expect sympathy, but even so I hope it all turns out OK for you.

 

[big-all]

bloody hell simon there by the grace of god go more than a few of us

wont lecture you wont patrinize you all i can suggest is you get a good lawyer look for positive reasons why they shouldnt ban you [eg you cant support your family cant work without a car ect ect]
and lets hope by you sharing your experiance we all learn a lesson

good luck simon

 

[Rider]

I think your obvious regret and intent never to do this again will come across in the Court Room. Genuine regret is probably something they will be looking out for when deciding how to handle things. True that the action could have lead to injury to yourself and others but the fact is that it thankfully didn't. That surely must count for something too. I don't know you of course (I'm only on my 22nd post) but you come across as a decent bloke with a social conscience, even if it did slip for a while there. As such, you deserve a break and good luck wish in my book.

 

[chainsaw_masochist]

Oh Simon, that's a truly unfortunate experience. I know there are those that will be more accusatory re d&d, but frankly there were times (years back) when the only reason something similar didn't befall me was that I was lucky enough not to get caught. I imagine there are others of us that could attest similarly.

Agree with all that Rider says, btw. Hope you receive the best possible outcome in the circumstances.

Chains.

 

[big-all]

isnt it ironic if he ran someone over and killed them it would be taken as dangerous driving with a £50 fine so i am just wondering what has bumped his situation up to prison when killing someone unintensionaly whilst drunk is a road traffic offence with a fine
i of course do not aggree with breaking the law just wondering if they are trying [deserved] fright tactics

i should also add i am thoroughly sickend by drunk driver who kill people and get a fine or even people speeding who kill someone

but none of us are angels so if remorse is shown the punishment should reflect this

 

[DAZB]

Why the hell should anyone try to find positive reasons why he should be treated lightly big-all ?
I have absolutely no sympathy with a drink driver who didn't learn his lesson after his first offence. And for such a pathetic reason as a packet of cigs you could have killed yourself or innocent motorists or pedestrians. If this sounds like a fairly harsh stance then good because it is actions like this sorry tale that ruin lives and take away loved ones all due to the selfish actions of those that can't put their brain in gear before their cars.
The only plus point is your obvious remorse but whatever the outcome of the Court case you should probably consider yourself lucky because you could have been responsible for a death which thankfully your not.

 

[big-all]

point taken dazd but the point is we all make mistakes i have never been in trouble with the police [i am 51] but throuout my life i have done silly and stupid things i wont go into them but they may have all passed without incident [as they all did] or they could have all bitten me [or at least some off them]now i am not condonning breaking the law or doing some thing dangerouse but have you never broken the speed limit or driven with alcahole in your system or simmilar stipid things you regret
i am of course not condoning his actions HE IS WRONG but we all make mistakes

the fact the man is admitting it on open forum it is a lesson to other if you slag him or others off to much people wont be honest and we wont learn by others mistakes

 

[securespark]

Si

This is an opportunity to reassess your attitude to dd - I urge you to take it!.
Go on an alcohol awareness course - as you say, you have been over the odds before, albeit the morning after.

It is a well-worn cliche, but with regard to dd, the best way to drive is alcohol-free.

Best wishes

Simon

 

[planenut]

Ninebob, sorry about the situation that you now find yourself in, at least you are aware of it - you wouldn't know much if you were now in a box.

The wrong is not in doing something, it's getting caught.

Hindsight is wonderful too. Take on board the comments that your "friends" have given, don't wait to make amends, get to some real forums and tell people how you feel now, and how the realization of what might have been has changed your attitude.

I realized the error of my ways with regard to drink and drive years ago, I could not remember having parked my car, in reverse, on my drive, after returning from merrymaking. I asked my wife to inspect the car with me, no damage, and more important to me at the time, no human tissue. I swore then that it would never happen again, that was twenty-five years ago; it hasn't happened again, but the thoughts of what might have been constantly recur.

Having said that, does it mean that you'll need a lift when they find a place for DIYNot to meet?

 

[kendor]

This post and some of the replies just show how Hypocritical some people on this forum can be.
They go on about castrating, hanging, torture, bludgeoning etc when someone on the news commits a crime but when it is a person on this forum that has commited an offence it's bad luck they got caught and how we all make mistakes sometimes! What a two faced lot you are!
He was drink driving, suppose he had knocked down and killed someone? Would it have been a case of "they shouldn't have been walking on the pavement at that time".
Don't ever have a go at me again for speaking my mind, my viewpoints may not agree with some on here but at least i stick to my views and principles and don't change them to fit in with the current "in crowd".

 

[Rider]

Coo! I'm glad I haven't been here long enough to be two-faced. If I stay around long enough and if anyone takes notice of my opinions over a period of time, it will be noticed I'm not the 'hang 'em high and remove their fingernails' type. This goes right across the board from prisoner abuse in Iraq to giving a sorry person a break.

Drunk driving certainly doesn't deserve a pat on the back. People and families can and do suffer as a result of it. However, on this occasion, nothing like that happened did it? I think there's a case difference between someone who could have caused injury but didn't and someone who actually did cause harm to a person. One situation deserves a greater punishment than the other.

I don't suppose anyone assumes that ninebob is going to get away too lightly with what has happened, or condones the offence. I'd say the well-wishing is more to do with the hope he won't have to endure the custodial sentence. I don't think that would serve any useful purpose in view of the fact that there fortunately were no injuries and ninebob is repentant about the incident.

It'll be up to the law to consider if he indeed won't ever commit the offence again but from the sound of it on this forum, it doesn't seem as if he will. The action has not lead to something that could have been much worse and that is the point to some degree. However, it could well have been enough to put ninebob on the non drink drive wagon forever I'd say, even if he'd never had to account for the offence in law.

Maybe I'm a softie and I'll seriously consider bashing anyone who says I'm not

 

[kendor]

It'll be up to the law to consider if he indeed won't ever commit the offence again but from the sound of it on this forum, it doesn't seem as if he will. The action has not lead to something that could have been much worse and that is the point to some degree. However, it could well have been enough to put ninebob on the non drink drive wagon forever I'd say, even if he'd never had to account for the offence in law.

Maybe I'm a softie and I'll seriously consider bashing anyone who says I'm not

By his own admission he has been caught twice drink driving, the fact that he was very lucky in not injuring or killing someone this time really doesn't rub as the potential was there, otherwise everyone could drive whilst over the limit as long as they don't hit anyone.
But point being made is you can't have it both ways in an argument or discussion.

 

[H&J]

Lets just hope that when it gets to court the reason for using the car is not mentioned, as we all know smoking is by far the most dangerous thing you can do, well in this crazy mixed up country anyway.

Kendor, I'm not one of your biggest fans but you were spot on this time.