Drink/Drug Driving, The Day I Drove Into The Berkeley Hunt

These are the little fellas I hit at walking speed in my car. www.berkeleyhunt.co.uk...

No injuries apparent. Two broken indicators on the car, so it must have left some bruising, but no serious damage to the hounds.


This is how it happened.

I was about to go to hospital for what I knew was going to be a painful procedure. I wanted to avoid flinching to make it easier for the medical staff to do the best job, so I asked a doctor friend if codeine would affect my driving. She said no, I took the maximum dose and set off. I now know codeine affects me strongly.

I got there without any problem. The procedure was carried out and I set off for home. When I was almost home I encountered The Berkeley Hunt occupying the entire width of the road.

The many complex issues surrounding Fox Hunting don't concern me. I'm a countryman and I don't interfere with other country people's pursuits. But the right to travel freely on the roads is of great concern to me.

Codeine told me they had no right to impede my passage.

I slowed down and carried on. They carried on towards me. The whipper-in began to look nervous, but made no attempt to control the hounds. I carried on, they carried on, then bam!

I stopped. The whipper-in screamed "YOU STUPID FFING C!" at the top of his voice.

Codeine told me to grin and give him an enthusiastic thumbs up.

He twitched his whip as if he was going to use the butt to smash the window. I though he was going to have a stroke, he was apoplectic.

Fortunately at this point a more balanced member of the hunt staff urged the whipper-in to move on as the hounds were streaming around the car with no obvious disablements, and embarrassingly for them, this whole thing was happening within yards of a school full of little children with sharp hearing.

I blame my bad behaviour on the codeine. I've met the hunt since then on a narrow road and I pulled aside, waited patiently, and returned their polite greetings and smiles.



Our police are running a campaign to target drink/drug drivers.

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Roads Policing, Chief Constable Suzette Davenport said:

“Euro 2016 is an exciting time but fans must plan ahead to reduce the temptation to drive when over the limit.

“The government have estimated that there are over 200 fatalities every year caused directly by drink and drug drivers. There are many more casualties who suffer serious, life changing injuries that in many cases require lifelong care.

www.thamesvalley.police.uk...

Suzette Davenport is my local Chief Constable, much loved and respected. She hasn't taken a back seat with her high position. She still attends some of the fatals. She doesn't do it for fun.

If you've consumed drink or drugs please don't drive.

a reply to: Kester

Codeine is funny stuff.
It can affect some people badly and others not at all.
My Mrs can't drive on it, but I spent a few years eating them like smarties (I had cluster headaches) and as a result developed a tolerance for the side effects.

When I worked on the railway we had to declare every med we took and obtain a fitness to work form.
The official advice on codeine was mustn't work alone or do safety critical work if it makes you drowsy, otherwise you were fine.

Glad the hounds were ok and you sorted things out with the local hunt.