Thursday, April 3, 2014

British Potholes Making It Harder To Catch Drunk Drivers

There's another hazard to add to the litany of woes caused by the potholes and frost heaves that I wrote about the other day.   
Are people swerving around these like drunken drivers?  

In Britain, where a winter of flooding had caused a lot of road damage, the BBC reports that the potholes make it harder to catch drunk drivers.

Sober drivers are weaving and swerving around the holes in the road, the BBC reports. 

They look like drunken drivers.

According to the BBC, quoting an inspector named Richard Mallett:

"Yes, the conditions of the road are a concern because there is a likelihood of it causing crashes, but people need to take some responsibility when they're behind the wheel.....Anecdotally, it makes it more difficult for us to spot the drunk drivers as everyone is weaving about around the potholes.

Here in Vermont and in the rest of the northern parts of the United States, frost heaves and potholes are everywhere after a long, tough winter. So there's plenty of bumps and holes to swerve around as we're driving out there.

Still, I don't think weaving around the potholes would be a good excuse to tell an officer if you're driving drunk. They could just whip out the Breathalyzer to determine what's going on.

Besides, if weaving around potholes is unsafe for sober drivers, imagine a drunken driver trying to pull that off.

Stay safe out there, people.

 because there is a likelihood of it causing crashes, but people need to take some responsibility when they're behind the wheel.

"Anecdotally, it makes it more difficult for us to spot the drunk drivers as everyone is weaving about around the potholes."

1 comment:

  1. Tsk! That is definitely something to take note of for the next town hall meeting. Potholes are enough of a hazard as they are for drivers who go out into the road sober, that there would be those unpleasant quirks about them too. Ultimately, driving is a serious business, so drunk driving shouldn't be seen as a mere attitudinal, or even party to an infrastructural flaw in an odd way, but a violation. Thanks for sharing that!

    Roman Barnes @ J and J Law

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