"smoking" and driving

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Mile195

Veteran
Location
West Kent
I see many strange and unusual things and people on my commute, and let most of them go.

People smoking cannabis while driving seems to be quite a regular occurence in London and not that strange or unusual (yes - I know what it smells like, and most drivers who do it don't seem to realise the smell doesn't dissipate quickly even with the window all the way down!). Anyway, I tend to just give these drivers a wide berth, and hope that they don't plough into the back of me further down the road.

This however, I DID find both strange and unusual, as well as a bit worrying. Last night I came across a taxi driver, in a licenced black cab, smoking a joint... at the wheel.... over the speed limit... with a passenger in the back.

I'm a live and let live kind of guy, but I'm not sure I should let this go so easily.

Nothing will happen if I report it - i'm sure. It's not as if I can prove it. But would you say something anyway?

Discuss.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
No I wouldn't.
But if you feel you have to then do it.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
When I was learning to drive, I was taught by an instructor from a branch of BSM in west London. On my first lesson, he asked if I minded if he smoked. "Not at all" I replied. He rolled up a big blunt and puffed away, and continued to do so for all the other lessons. He was a great instructor and just let me get on with my driving without barking instructions into my ear all the time. By some miracle, I passed first time.
 
OP
OP
Mile195

Mile195

Veteran
Location
West Kent
Has the OP resin to the challenge and grassed him up yet?




baddum tish
No, mostly because just checked my camera footage and unfortunately I can't make out his hackney plate number, and the reg number isn't entirely clear. I still think he's a fool though, and if I had been the passenger I would have refused to pay him.

Never mind. I shall have to think of something else public-spirited that I can do today instead...
 

ChrisV

Formerly CC2014
Location
Falkirk
I appreciated the joke.

Smoking cannabis and driving is every bit as bad as drink driving.
 

mr_cellophane

Legendary Member
Location
Essex
No, mostly because just checked my camera footage and unfortunately I can't make out his hackney plate number, and the reg number isn't entirely clear. I still think he's a fool though, and if I had been the passenger I would have refused to pay him.
Perhaps the joint was the fare
 

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
...

Smoking cannabis and driving is every bit as bad as drink driving.
in many cases worse... I've heard people brag about skinning up whilst driving.... and a real life bomber & shell suit incident. But like mobile phone use and tipsy-driving, too many people would rather take action to suit their own convenience, rather than do the right thing.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
I would suggest it is worse, as there is essentially no road side test to determine the level of intoxication. There is no breathalyzer for THC.

Mmm, not sure I follow that logic. Surely it should be "worse" based on the risks to others rather than the difficulty of the police busting someone. I'd imagine that someone who's had a spliff is less danger to others than a drunken driver, as there's less likely to be agression or showing off type or over-confidence. Not to recommended it, and as a non-toker I have no axe to grind after all, but on balance, I'm guessing, and it is a guess, that the risk would be less for an "equivalent" level of intoxication.
 
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