You don't often hear people claiming that downing a bottle of gin has no effect on their driving skills. Unless they've already had the gin, they're motoring ferociously down the A24 and you're sitting in the passenger seat, in which case it would be advisable to get them pull over and take the wheel yourself. Unless you've had a similar amount of gin, in which case it might make sense to pull over and just quietly sit on the outskirts of Leatherhead for however many hours it takes for gin to stop messing with both your central nervous systems.

You do, however, hear people saying that using a mobile phone while they're at the wheel doesn't affect their ability to stop at red lights or avoid slaughtering innocent pedestrians. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, everyone is incredibly defensive about their ability to operate a motor vehicle; dare to suggest to someone that they drive too fast, and most of them will indignantly speed up by about 3mph while muttering something about never having had an accident. ( Read more... )