Cycling and drinking, should we do it

[MattDB]

I used to drink and ride every time I went on a night out - didn't think anything of it despite being very safety conscious during my daily commute.

It makes me cringe the states I've cycled home in. The last time I did it I'd drank well over ten pints and woke up on my lawn with no recollection of the cycle home. My 1972 wheels were also never as straight as they'd been after that night.

I've had so many near misses this year on my commute that it's really opened my eyes to how stupid it is to cycle on roads with less than all your wits about you so I will never cycle drunk again.

 

[mjr]

I've had so many near misses this year on my commute that it's really opened my eyes to how stupid it is to cycle on roads with less than all your wits about you so I will never cycle drunk again.

I can cycle to at least two pubs (and a few restaurants that serve drink and some off-licences) without riding on any roads Of course, some of the no-motors-allowed routes require a bit more balance and agility than the roads

 

[Ian H]

I've had so many near misses this year on my commute that it's really opened my eyes to how stupid it is to cycle on roads with less than all your wits about you so I will never cycle drunk again.

I can't remember when I last had a near miss, so I'm not sure you can apply your experience to everyone.

 

[Yazzoo]

Well it's nearly the weekend, maybe we should create test groups and all go out Saturday night and report back our findings (if possible!)

We'll need a test group drinking nothing, and then several others at different levels of inebriation to compare.

We may need to split up further to account for those of us living in rural/urban areas, roads/trails and just for good measure probably a mix of helmets/no helmets lights/no lights

 

[snorri]

t[UOTE="steve50, post: 3977726, member: 44061"]s. The main argument for cyclists in this thread is there are no records or statistics relating to cyclists and alcohol incidents so therefore it doesn't happen,a very blinkered view imo.[/QUOTE]
You can be sure there would be statistics if it did happen more than once in a blue moon.
Why not tackle well documented and known road safety issues rather than an issue which exists mainly in your head?

 

[Markymark]

Well it's nearly the weekend, maybe we should create test groups and all go out Saturday night and report back our findings (if possible!)

We'll need a test group drinking nothing, and then several others at different levels of inebriation to compare.

We may need to split up further to account for those of us living in rural/urban areas, roads/trails and just for good measure probably a mix of helmets/no helmets lights/no lights

The problem with this is that as a Londoner I'll barely feel any effects from the level of alcohol that would make a northerner paralytic.

 

[Milkfloat]

The problem with this is that as a Londoner I'll barely feel any effects from the level of alcohol that would make a northerner paralytic.

But that is because the lime you put in your little bottle of lager soaks up all the alcohol.

 

[MattDB]

I can't remember when I last had a near miss, so I'm not sure you can apply your experience to everyone.

I could add 'busy' city roads. Maybe I sound judgemental and I'm mainly judging myself but I've had to apply brakes sharply and swerve so often that I'd hate for my senses to be dulled. If some people are in the situation where there are no cars around or those that are have exceptional manners and common sense then that might be very different. Would I cycle home along with country roads after a few pints? Still no. But you are correct that I don't have any empirical evidence to support my assumption that cycling while drunk is more dangerous than sober, just my opinion.

 

[Wolf616]

Well it's nearly the weekend, maybe we should create test groups and all go out Saturday night and report back our findings (if possible!)

We'll need a test group drinking nothing, and then several others at different levels of inebriation to compare.

We may need to split up further to account for those of us living in rural/urban areas, roads/trails and just for good measure probably a mix of helmets/no helmets lights/no lights

We'd need to make sure routes planned were different - the ten pint group meeting members of the stone cold sober group might lead to some interesting but erroneous test results...

 

[Wolf616]

I always assumed "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" was a song about two drunken revellers on a tandem

 

[MissTillyFlop]

Personally I wouldn't. But I don't drink alcohol full stop... It's enough of a struggle to remember what the hell I'm doing as it is!

 

[swansonj]

Ok. I hear you.

Slightly OT but sort of on principle. How would those who are in favour of a proportional limit on alcohol/drug levels vis-à-vis scale of the potential consequences feel if I were to say that eg motorway speed limits should be variable too? As an eg: at about 2pm in the morning two Sundays ago, I was driving up to Carlisle on the M6 north of J36 and saw not one vehicle for over 20 minutes. So, as precisely no one was at risk apart from myself I could've nipped up the motorway considerably faster than the 70mph limit which (one must assume) takes into account an average level of traffic with a greater level of risk?

Fine by me. I have long argued that, as a matter of pragmatic psychology, there should be a quid-pro-quo. Zero tolerance of speed over the limits, enforced automatically and 100% of the time by an ever-expanding network of average speed cameras. In return, relax some speed limits that carry the least credibility with motorists. Thirty limits in built up areas generally carry credibility- motorists understand why they are there even while they break them. 70 limits on motorways less so. So relax motorway limits to 80 in dry weather (whilst reducing to 60 in wet) and a further relaxation to 90 below some specified traffic density. Then reduce the disqualification limit to 7 points. Or preferably 5. So we end up enforcing something that has broad acceptance (bit like where we've got to with breathalysers) rather than the present situation of not enforcing something that doesn't have broad acceptance. And, if the sop we give to motorists relates primarily to motorways, it has little direct impact on cyclists and pedestrians...

 

[mjr]

[...]I've had to apply brakes sharply and swerve so often that I'd hate for my senses to be dulled.

Sorry to be blunt, but when did you last take a hazard perception test or training? Or maybe you're cycling in outer London?

Would I cycle home along with country roads after a few pints? Still no. But you are correct that I don't have any empirical evidence to support my assumption that cycling while drunk is more dangerous than sober, just my opinion.

There's a difference between "a few pints" and "unfit from drink". It's not black and white. The trouble with me cycling along country roads when too drunk would be that too many roads here are bordered by water-filled drains, and few motorists means I'd probably not be seen as I fell in - but the same applies to walking home too, taxis won't take drunks any more and I don't like sleeping rough, so I stop well short of getting that drunk. TTBOMK I've cycled while unfit once in my life (through a city, too!), I was accompanied and that was quite scary enough.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I seem to remember drunkcyclist.com or similar was a rather fruity website ....

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I'll continue to ride pished when I want to, ta very much.

Sober semi-conscious drivers driving on autopilot, and not expecting a cyclist to be there, being the significantly greater risk to my wellbeing than the fourth pint of porter...

... me being sober will not effect the outcome of an rtc with a vehicle driven by a twunt.