Is she legal to drive?

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jtbthatsme

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#624212 13-May-2012 01:54

I always believed the standard drink was considered to be 200mls which means your daughter drunk 5.5 standard drinks.

Your daughter was right to wait 6 hours before driving but in reality the chances of her failing a blood test (for the zero amount someone at her age is allowed) would be highly probable. Whether or not she was let off or not would really boil down to the mood of the police officer at the time (sadly).

I also agree with the other comment it's irrelevant what sort of car she's driving as we all know accidents are not always our fault if she was in one that would have come out and there would be no letting off. I'm also pretty sure at her age she's not allowed to be drinking however I am not exactly going to say much on this as we've all been there done that prior to the legal age limit.

I would talk to her about pointing out what she did right (as waiting 6 hours is awesome most kids probably wouldn't) and what she could have done better (not taken the car if drinking, stayed the night, waited longer) and most definitely set rules for use of your car as I think possibly with her age being under 18 if something like a accident had happened you would possibly be in trouble as well and I don't just mean that you'd be uninsured paying for two cars to get fixed but you could see yourself getting placed on a parenting course for letting your child drink under age and then the drink drive part would just further some judges to put something like this for you or possibly both of you to do. (or does that stuff only happen in America).

itxtme

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#624221 13-May-2012 08:13

jtbthatsme: I always believed the standard drink was considered to be 200mls which means your daughter drunk 5.5 standard drinks.

Your daughter was right to wait 6 hours before driving but in reality the chances of her failing a blood test (for the zero amount someone at her age is allowed) would be highly probable. Whether or not she was let off or not would really boil down to the mood of the police officer at the time (sadly).

I also agree with the other comment it's irrelevant what sort of car she's driving as we all know accidents are not always our fault if she was in one that would have come out and there would be no letting off. I'm also pretty sure at her age she's not allowed to be drinking however I am not exactly going to say much on this as we've all been there done that prior to the legal age limit.

I would talk to her about pointing out what she did right (as waiting 6 hours is awesome most kids probably wouldn't) and what she could have done better (not taken the car if drinking, stayed the night, waited longer) and most definitely set rules for use of your car as I think possibly with her age being under 18 if something like a accident had happened you would possibly be in trouble as well and I don't just mean that you'd be uninsured paying for two cars to get fixed but you could see yourself getting placed on a parenting course for letting your child drink under age and then the drink drive part would just further some judges to put something like this for you or possibly both of you to do. (or does that stuff only happen in America).

Agree with you completely, interestingly I hear the prime minister on the radio last week talking about the new laws coming in for alcohol, currently there is no legal limit to drink it, only to purchase it.

nate

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#624311 13-May-2012 12:30

nzkc: My understanding is that its not quite as black and white as nate says here. Yes it will count against her, however, the length of time since the conviction comes into play. Off hand I cannot remember the length of time that is taken into account - its in the act though.

Good to know. My knowledge is based off my brief discussions with the auckland licensing inspector and others in the industry

KevinL

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#624312 13-May-2012 12:35

jtbthatsme: I always believed the standard drink was considered to be 200mls which means your daughter drunk 5.5 standard drinks.

The standard drink in NZ is 10g (12.7mL) of alcohol, which obviously varies depending on the % alcohol content. By my calculations she had 4.3 standard drinks.

alasta

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#624345 13-May-2012 14:13

jtbthatsme: Your daughter was right to wait 6 hours before driving but in reality the chances of her failing a blood test (for the zero amount someone at her age is allowed) would be highly probable.

She wouldn't end up having a blood test though because you don't get a blood test unless you fail the roadside breath test, and I stand by my view that the breath testing apparatus is not sensitive enough to be able to detect the minimal traces of alcohol that may have remained in her system at the time.

In this case I personally believe that fatigue from only having had six hours sleep is far more likely to be a driving hazard than a small residual trace of alcohol which would be insufficient to affect judgement ability or reaction times.

Hiamie

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#624348 13-May-2012 14:18

alasta:
In this case I personally believe that fatigue from only having had six hours sleep is far more likely to be a driving hazard than a small residual trace of alcohol which would be insufficient to affect judgement ability or reaction times

It's worse than that :(. She didn't have any sleep at all, and it was only by chance that she stopped drinking at midnight.

She intended to sleep over, and drive home much later in the day, but things didn't turn out that way.

I intend making sure that in future she doesn't drive until at least 6 hours have passed after her last drink, and if necessary, I will pick her up rather than have her try to drive home before at least 6 hours have passed.

alasta

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#624354 13-May-2012 14:35

Hiamie:
alasta:
In this case I personally believe that fatigue from only having had six hours sleep is far more likely to be a driving hazard than a small residual trace of alcohol which would be insufficient to affect judgement ability or reaction times

It's worse than that :(. She didn't have any sleep at all, and it was only by chance that she stopped drinking at midnight.

She intended to sleep over, and drive home much later in the day, but things didn't turn out that way.

I intend making sure that in future she doesn't drive until at least 6 hours have passed after her last drink, and if necessary, I will pick her up rather than have her try to drive home before at least 6 hours have passed.

Good on you. We've all done silly things in our teens, and most of us are fortunate enough to learn from them without anything really nasty happening so it's good that you're looking at this case as a "might not be so lucky next time" practical learning opportunity for your daughter.

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stevenz

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#624788 14-May-2012 12:27

I know a guy who while the sober driver was getting breath-tested, asked the officer if they could test him as well "just out of interest" and he passed, despite being "pretty wasted" by his own definition and that there's no way he would've driven.

I have little faith in the accuracy of their equipment, although this was about 5 years back so maybe it's improved since.

@KnightNZ

crackrdbycracku

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#624861 14-May-2012 14:03

stevenz: I know a guy who while the sober driver was getting breath-tested, asked the officer if they could test him as well "just out of interest" and he passed, despite being "pretty wasted" by his own definition and that there's no way he would've driven.

I have little faith in the accuracy of their equipment, although this was about 5 years back so maybe it's improved since.

I think the equipment if accurate in testing the amount of alcohol in breath or blood. What it isn't accurate at measuring in is testing how drunk you feel.

As far as the OP goes I would say maybe legal, probably not safe. Forget the how much the car costs, the kid is kind of valuable.

I remember being 17, I don't consider it the most sensible time of my life.

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