Thanks for all the replies guys. There are a couple things I would like to clear up and also since posting a few other things have come to light. He was not drinking before I got into the car and I've never smelt alcohol on his breath before. I'm not saying he doesn't have a problem, but I've not noticed anything before this. If I somehow implied that the car is mine, it is not. It's a standard AA Ford Focus. About half way into the lesson he got a beer from a six pack of Stella on the back seat. I'm pretty certain it was the first one. The whole evening lesson had been on carriageways with very little traffic. Yes, I was surprised when he got a beer out but the lesson was already half way over and stopping the car while demanding he get rid of the beer seems like a disproportionate reaction. Poor judgement on my part? Probably, but 20/20 hindsight is great... In total he probably had 2 to 3 beers. He never appeared sloshed. Thinking back to the accident, I'm almost positive that there was no exchange of insurance details. Excuse the stereotyping but the other car contained about 3 or 4 young male eastern European guys driving a very old Honda. I doubt they were on the road legally. While I was looking for my glasses there just doesn't seem to be enough time for the exchange to take place. I think it's a safe assumption that both my instructor and the other driver agreed it's best to forget the accident happened and just move on. I've noticed quite a few people in this thread are recommending to "tell the truth" about what happened. The problem is, that isn't the issue at all (and in no way am I going to lie for anyone or make a false statement). What is the issue is whether or not to tell anyone or do anything. If I follow this solicitors advice, I stand to make quite a large sum of money from the AA but at the expense of my instructor's life. However if I take this easy 'AA claim' from my instructor I'm almost positive he'll want me to sign something that isn't true. No way in hell I'm doing that. Anyway, I'm taking a tip from Krikkit and going to the Citizens Advice Bureau on Tuesday. Hopefully I can find out for certain whether or not I'm legally obliged to do anything.
I know if my instructor at the time had grabbed a beer off the back seat, Id have stopped immediately, To this day i still wont drive even if ive had a single drink, Its a rule that i hold to myself and have never broke it. Your instructor is there for a reason, to instruct you how to drive, do's/donts and the way of the road, the idea of an instructor having a beer whilst teaching somebody to drive and later drive himself home is incredibly bad practice, and quite frankly rediculous!
i wouldn't give two sh*ts about your instructor, he was drinking whilst he should be teaching and protecting you and other road users from mistakes. He is clearly in the wrong, and it was lucky nobody was seriously injured, imagine if you were entering the dual carriage way and there was a car in your blind spot, could you totally trust your instructor to spot this problem? I am disgusted by this.
Cover yourself from every angle first. Dont let them (AA) make you sign anything without properly looking into it, as you said they will most likely try and get themselves covered quickly on paper. I'd do as your doing and seek legal advice, I know it's sad to think about ruining one man's life in order to achieve a personal gain like on those adverts. But at the end of the day this isn't a piece of plastic on the floor or someone who left the wet floor sign one meter too far away, this is drinking at the wheel as I'm pretty sure a driving instructor he has a full responsiblity of you and the car. Im sure that the instructor has had his scare and wont do it again, however he very well could have hurt someone - you, others or infact himself - was he considering his own wife and kids when he opened his first can knowing full well that something like this could get him fired - so it is not exactly your fault if he ends up in the ****. __ People, dont say what he should have done for instance pulling over the car when he opened up the can. You can never judge what you would do or what you should do unless your in that situation at that time. Whats done is done anyways. As it's a difficult situation I asked my girlfriend on it: (Just copied and pasted, so you can see what her true input is.) Zerø: I need your input, a guy on bittech is needing some advice. Abrà: oh? Abrà: errm.. what you should do is, if you're constipated.. Zerø: SHUSH Abrà: take some laxatives Zerø: xD Abrà: xD Zerø: Zerø: He was in a driving lesson with the AA. As he was coming upto a roundabout. Zerø: There was a truck on the opposite side and the roundabout was pretty big, so the guy felt he had enough time to get around. But as he went to turn the instructor slammed on the breaks to stop the car but caused a crash as the car behind them rammed into the back and pretty much totaled the car Zerø: everyone seems okay etc Zerø: But the issue is that half way through the lesson the instructor starting having 3-4 cans of beer... so essentially drink driving. Abrà: I think he should get a new instructor Abrà: who is not an idiot Abrà: And tell him if he ever hears of anything happening like that again, he will go to the police Zerø: After telling his family there wanting to sue the AA. Abrà: oh? Zerø: Yeah. =\ Zerø: Because it is a serious situation, inwhich he is intitled to a lot of money because of it - as it was putting him at a large risk as it is drink driving pretty mcuh and did cause a crash which could have hurt people. But this guy has a heart so to speak and he's saying as much as he could do with the money and knows this guy did a terrible thing... he has a wife and a kid and doing this would ruin him.. which makes him feel sick at the thought of personal gain through another man's fall. Abrà: yeah.. Abrà: I don't know.. I would maybe talk to the guy like he did, and just.. Threaten him a little bit, just say like.. Take more responsibility Zerø: Yeah Abrà: Cars can be death traps, go to a ****ing alcoholics anonymous meeting or something Abrà: never drink when you get into a car with someone again etc. Abrà: but if he has a wife and a kid it's a bit.. ****.. Abrà: I don't know, it depends on his morals Zerø: yeah... as his wife and kids would probably suffer >.< Abrà: at the end of the day he did something bad so, if he gets punished for it, it's his own mistake.. Zerø: Yeah I don't know >.< Zerø: It's hard xP Zerø: anyways, cheers I'll add your input from you xp Abrà: you have to kind of think, he was in a way in control of the car and drinking Abrà: you don't drink and drive, it's against the law Zerø: Yeah Zerø: As he has full responsiblity as the qualified driver and instructor Abrà: yes Hope any of that helps.
he might not appear sloshed but 2 440ml cans of stella (5%) would put him over the legal drink drive limit, 2 bottles (330ml) would be just under the limit. and if they were 500ml cans or he had three of any of them he was well over the limit. If the idiot was drinking whilst giving lessons, I'd inform his employer. but then I'm more concerned with the people he could injure in the future and lives he could ruin if he thinks this is an acceptable way to work. Then again I'm also of the opinion that drink driving and driving without insurance should be charged with being in ownership of an illegal weapon.
Exactly, it's common sense. I completely agree with Burnout21, and even though Nutech you have a heart and that you say he has a wife and kid(s), that's not your problem, he should have thought of that before grabbing that 6 pack of Stella from the back seat, when he's supposed to be teaching you how to drive responsibly he was technically drinking whilst driving as he had control of the car almost as much as you did by having access to the dual controls on the passenger side!
There's no way he should have been drinking during the lesson, that's just unprofessional. He's supposed to be working & giving you a lesson, he's not having a mate drive him to the pub! I'm sorry, but you need to report it to the AA & sue the instructor. I understand you don't want to ruin the guys life, but he should have thought about the consequences. He's a pure grade idiot. BTW. I don't think much of the CAB, (my missus was accused of something she didn't do, went to CAB & they only had informtation for the accuser & nothing to help her - nothing came of it, but if it's not on the computer then your out of luck), but let us know what they say.
******* shouldn't be allowed in charge of a vehicle. Sue him a little, just so that it goes to court and hopefully he gets a driving ban and loses a job where he's putting lives at risk. On one hand, it will hurt his family, but far FAR less than if he was driving them and he crashed... Show him this video as well. (NSFW, Australian Drink Driving advert.)
Regardless of anything else I don't see that you can do anything other than tell the appropriate people/bodies about this. What he did was not only highly unprofessional but was also illegal afaik, he is/was putting other people at risk with his actions and it's not something you should be keeping quiet or turning a blind eye to just because he seems like a nice bloke.
NuTech, I'm sorry but one way or another your instructor is losing his job. To minimize the damage yet still get the point across, sue him for say £500 for medical damages or something that was resultant from the incident. This way it is not too financially damaging yet it gets the point across, and if he agrees to settle and go to AA meetings and remove the financial damages or something along those lines.
Cheers, that clears things up a lot. OK, seeing as it isn't your car that got totalled you don't need to get involved in the whole insurance thing and you don't need to sue for that. All you have to decide is: Shall I continue taking lessons from this guy? Shall I shop him to his employers/professional body? First off, I can appreciate that when this guy suddenly gets some beer from the back seat in the middle of a driving lesson, that it may feel somewhat awkward to just pull over and get out, so to just say: "Sorry dude, but can you not drink while you're instructing me?". Especially as his behaviour is so off the chart that it may throw you a bit. However, now you've had time to think about it, you may want to decide that you are not happy to take any further instruction from him. Keep in mind that the experienced alcoholic is pretty good at hiding the fact that he has been drinking. So do you really want to risk it? I think that cancelling any further lessons is wise. With regards shopping him to his employers' or professional body, although you probably have no legal obligation to do so, he may present a risk to future learners and other road users. This may be either the start of his drinking behaviour, or the tip of an existing iceberg-sized addiction. Either way, don't assume that this was a one-off error in judgement. It takes a certain, well, comfort with the act to just break a six pack and chug a can of beer during instruction. In order to square your feelings of responsibility for what happens to his family with yourself: keep in mind that alcoholics have a way of putting other people in a position of responsibility for them. Whether you rescue them, enable their drinking or reproach them (so that they can be all remorseful and maintain the fantasy for themselves and others that they are actually going to change), it is a position that they place you in by their behaviour (look up: "Drama Triangle"). If you shop him to his employers, well, he kind of forced you in that position. It is not something that you have much choice on. If you don't shop him you just become another Rescuer or Enabler of his drinking. He'll carry on until some innocent gets badly hurt. And then you can feel all guilty and responsible for that. So sorry, but I'd report him to his employers/professional body.
If you even think you might have any injuries, go a doctor ASAP and ascertain the extent of any damage you might have suffered. It may not feel that bad at the minute but you can't be sure it's going to stay that way; I have friends who have walked in a painkiller-induced haze for days on 'a sore leg' (turned out to be compound fractures) and trust me, if you have any injuries, you want to know now. More relevantly, if you EVER contemplate suing him for damages you will need a medical report on the extent of your trauma, be it medical or psychological. I would be extremely reluctant to sweep this under the carpet. Write down your account of the accident in as minute detail as possible for the same reasons you're going to be going to the hospital; if it comes down to it, it's going to be your word against his. It will be understandable that you didn't immediately contact the AA etc right after the accident to inform them - you were still a bit shocked by the accident, you hold him in a position of authority - but if you do they're going to be a bit surprised you didn't mention it earlier and you then decide to sue. tl:dr; Make sure you are safe before anything else. Get yourself checked physically and legally to make sure you are not injured and cannot be held liable for leaving the scene of an accident/allowing an intoxicated driver to drive/aiding and abetting the destruction of evidence (letting him bin the cans) and/or obstructing the course of an investigation, if there is one. Make sure that you are safe before doing anything else. What you do after that is up to your conscience. Personally, your instructor's 'one little slip' could have caused deaths and for that I think he deserves to lose his job; I would shop him to the AA regardless of whether you sue them for damages, and I certainly wouldn't take any further lessons from him. How would you have felt if on the way home from your house he hit someone? The guy plainly isn't safe. Let us know what the CAB say?
^^^ Good point. Spinal injuries can take while to make themselves known onto you... also writing an account is very good advice.
if it was me.. I'd let the instructor off the hook.. no sense in ruining a mans life over an accident (doubt he could get another similar job after that's on his record) on the other side of that.. he did put your life in danger over something really stupid.. and you don't know him well enough- as I've gotten older I've realized some things I didn't in my 20's.. I would talk to him personally and see if we could work out a deal- say that 500 dollars you were going to get turning him in.. it's nothing and you'd both be happy you already told your parents he was drinking though.. so there's where it gets complicated- you probably have to report it or it, it was just you and him before that =\ think like mentioned, next time you see something like that- doesn't hurt to say you don't feel comfortable or something along those lines- stop it before it happens
I wouldn't screw the instructor over in this situation. Just doesn't feel right. On the other hand the people in the car behind you probably contributed towards the collision so i wouldn't worry about THEM.
The law on this is very clear - if the person driving the car does not have a full license, then the person sitting with them (normally the instructor) is legally in control of the vehicle. I had a driving instructor who lost his job because of this. He had just passed some advanced driving exam, and went out to have a few beers to celebrate. At the end of the evening, he knew he was over the limit, so he asked his girlfriend to drive - who hadn't passed her test at that point. Unlucky she had an accident, but when she was unable to produce a full license, it was him that was breathalysed, and then done for drink driving, losing his job - it was actually his replacement that told me this!
ok I've not read every one elses posts because they contain long words and its late at night theres 4 main points I personally believe that you need to take into consideration 1. You're in England so legally if someone crashes into the back of you its their fault until proved otherwise (I'm not sure but I think the idea behind it is that they should have been a safe distance away so they could stop in time) 2. Your driving instructor is an idiot *Correction he is a dangerous idiot that is going to cause someones death. You do NOT DRINK whilst driving a car or whilst being a passenger if you have control over the brake as he would have in a learner car as its a bad idea that will lead to some ones death eventually. 3. he has a wife and kids, so what. its nice that you are taking them into consideration but maybe he should have done that before putting the alcohol in the car. 4. You are paying this guy to teach you if you paid some one to teach you a foreign language would you continue to do so if they drink alcohol whilst doing so or would you find your self a teacher who was sober and in control and capable of teaching you the lessons that you have paid for and require. so the short version is, yes you could sue if you wanted but on the way to the solicator I believe that a stop at a better (safer, more sober) driving school would be my first stop and my main consideration
Uh, it doesn't matter how you put this, it's blackmail, and it's illegal. Why compound his offenses with one of your own? If the police ever look into this case and discover you've taken cash not to tell his employers and the police that he's been drink driving and has caused a car accident whilst drunk, you can expect to find yourself on the stand right next to him.
The instructor wasn't driving was he, you have never driven a car with drunk people in then? I would just go with driving instructor get the £1000 or so and forget about it, do you want to destroy a man and his family's life because he made a mistake, were not perfect!
