Dormobiles

[Jim GM4DHJ ...]

If you spend a night in a dormobile can you get pissed legaly?....I think you are in charge of the keys and could get done by the pigs.....

[Colin Bignell]

It is a defence to show that you were not intending to drive the vehicle. Being tucked up in bed would probably count.

[charles]

assuming you are at a campsite, you aren't on the public highway.

[Robin]

take care with that. The test is whether you are on a road or other public place. There can be a "road" (as defined for the Act) in campsite. Worse, whether a campsite is a "public place" depends on the facts but the courts have ruled that they most certainly can be.

[Chris Green]

That isn't the criterion though is it? You can get arrested and charged with drunk driving on a private road I believe. ... or did this change when "drunk in charge" became "driving over the limit"?

[NY]

Is "drunk in charge" no longer a prosecutable offence? Is it OK now to be discovered sitting in a stationary (eg parked) vehicle with the keys on you, when you are over the limit? About time: to my mind the sin (if not the legal offence) is to *drive* while drunk; sitting as a passenger ought to require prosecution to prove that you intended to drive, and maybe even then to wait until you actually moved off. I heard of a case many years ago of a husband and wife who went out to the pub. One of them (eg the wife) stuck to soft drinks, and the other (eg the husband) had a skinful. The wife drove home and the police stopped her. They tried to prosecute the husband for drunk-in-charge because although he was clearly in the passenger seat, he had his car/house keys on him and so *might* have driven. The case was thrown out, with strong reprimands to the police for bringing a frivolous case.

As regards the private road. I suppose the law might make a distinction between your own drive which leads to your house and no other, and a road which serves multiple houses but which is private in the sense of not being adopted by the highways department of the local council.

I believe that in some states of the USA, it is/was illegal to have any un-sealed bottles of alcohol (ie where the security, anti-tamper seal has been broken) even if the driver is sober and it is only the passengers who are drinking - but that Scotch tape wound round the neck and the cap/cork of a partly-full bottle is deemed to be sufficient to satisfy the "sealed" requirement.

[Colin Bignell]

I was under the impression that drunk in charge was introduced later than driving over the limit. Unlike driving over the limit, it does not require proof that the person had actually been driving. However, as I mentioned, showing that you had no intention to drive is a defence against being drunk in charge.

[Mark Carver]

And rightly so. There are millions (literally) of such instances of that every year. I suspect there were other factors that led to that escalation.

[RJH]

Any ideas/cases etc. about how that might best be achieved?

I spent a fair amount of time over the summer wild camping in a small van/car in Scotland and Wales, and probably had a drink or two most nights. I did know about the 'drunk in charge' situation, but just figured that it was highly unlikely I'd get charged unless I was doing something that bothered someone.

[charles]

I believe that in Canada you can only carry alcohol in the boot (trunk) and not in the passenger compartment,

[charles]

Escalation. Driver stopped because he was driving without any lights; charged with 3 counts: no obligatory front lights; no obligatory rear lights; not illuminating rear number plate. He lost his licence.

[Tricky Dicky]

The Blackbelt Barrister has a video specifically about this issue.

Richard

[Clive Arthur]

<snipped>

It seems to be a grey area, but this is the advice given by at least one insurer...

<advice>

Before even your first sip of alcohol, you must:

Ensure your motorhome is already parked up for the night. Do not take the risk of having to move it later to the right place, even if it's just a short distance or manoeuvre. A large motorhome is tricky to handle at the best of times.

Make sure your motorhome isn?t causing an obstruction. You don?t want to have to move it later.

Have some evidence that you?re planning to stay for a while, so you could prove your intention to sleep overnight in the motorhome rather than driving elsewhere. For example, put your silver-screens in the windscreen, pop on a steering lock and put jacks or steadies down.

After you've had a drink of alcohol, you must:

Pop the keys in a safe if you have one.

Never start up the engine in your motorhome, even to charge batteries.

Never place the key in or anywhere near the ignition.

Never sit behind the steering wheel or in the driver?s seat if it?s facing forwards.

</advice>

[Colin Bignell]

That is for the Courts to decide on a case by case basis. However, somebody tucked up in bed in a camper van on a camp site is probably in a better position than somebody sleeping in the back of their car by the side of the road. Indeed, AIUI people sleeping it off in their car, but still being under the influence when they woke up and drove off, was one of the reasons the legislation was introduced in the first place.

[Colin Bignell]

I would say that was a bit harsh if he had simply forgotten to switch them on. However, probably justified if the lights had failed over time and not been repaired.

[Jim GM4DHJ ...]

indeed

[Jim GM4DHJ ...]

dashboards that are on all the time are to blame for that

[Jim GM4DHJ ...]

polis are nasty in the near of scotland

[charles]

I got the impression from the newspaper report that he's got stroppy with the police.

[Tim Streater]

Yes, I had a gottle of gear confiscated at the exit to a state park in California some 40 years ago. Didn't get done, luckily. In the US they have more cops (and *types* of cop) than you can shake a stick at. Prolly get shot if you did shake a stick, come to think of it.