Is this likely to be true?

devoncop22

As I mentioned above. The VERY rare case of a driver on a provisional licence who was arrested for driving whilst under the influence of drugs whilst being supervised by "Alex" in the passenger seat who was also in the same condition could technically lead to a driving ban for "Alex" but it would be an unusual set of circumstances.

Spendless

tightauldgit said:

devoncop22 said:

As a former police officer there actually is a situation in which a passenger can get a driving ban. 

It would relate to being "drunk in charge of a vehicle" in the situation where the driver was over the limit for driving and the passenger held a full licence and was therefore supervising the "learner" driver and under law the passenger is technically in charge of the vehicle.

I actually was the arresting officer for this situation many years back and the girlfriend of the drunk driver who was a supervising passenger received a ban as well as the driver themselves (both incidentally were over the limit) .

Not drug related but it can happen. Of course if the driver had been incapable through drugs and the passenger was technically supervising then the same situation would apply as the offence is to be "in charge of a vehicle whilst unfit through drink or drugs".

Supervising a learner was the only situation I could think of where a passenger might be held responsible - but probably highly unlikely to be the case here. Certainly doesn't match with the facts stated in the OP where they seem to be claiming passenger was banned for driver possessing drugs??? 

I can assure you the only facts written are that this to the best of my knowledge is what my relative read out to me. I was cynical from the beginning, but a few days of googling and yielding nothing, I decided to ask on here.  

Spendless

devoncop22 said:

As I mentioned above. The VERY rare case of a driver on a provisional licence who was arrested for driving whilst under the influence of drugs whilst being supervised by "Alex" in the passenger seat who was also in the same condition could technically lead to a driving ban for "Alex" but it would be an unusual set of circumstances.

Thank you. I was actually semi aware of this as I remember a sit-com from years ago when someone drunk goes to the passenger side of their empty car and gets into bother from the police (from memory I think it was Michael Elphick's character in 3 up 2 down).

I would expect that  scenario (you've posted)  to be so unusual  the local rag would have printed the story. There's nothing. I've tried googling Alex's name. 

MalMonroe

I do hope that your relative can be persuaded not to meet up with this Alex person again.

Goodness only knows what stories they'll be told and as you say they've been vulnerable in the past it must be worrying for you. 

Spendless

MalMonroe said:

I do hope that your relative can be persuaded not to meet up with this Alex person again.

Goodness only knows what stories they'll be told and as you say they've been vulnerable in the past it must be worrying for you. 

Agreed. It makes me wonder what the real story is and what role Alex played in it. I'd have had more respect (though I still wouldn't have been happy) if they'd said I've been banned for speeding or something like that.

Unfortunately Alex has a personal item of my relatives (I'm not blaming him for this relative asked him to keep hold of it on their night out and forgot to ask for it back) which will be costly and inconvenient to replace, so I am hoping this can be retrieved.   

Gavin83

I wouldn't expect a crime such as this to be in the news. For it to appear in the news and name the individual it would have to be a serious crime or something particularly unusual.

However while I understand your concern is it really down to you to police this relatives boyfriends? Presumably this relative is an adult and while you haven't mentioned the nature of their vulnerability the use of the past tense suggests they're no longer considered vulnerable. I guess you can give your advice but ultimately it's your relatives choice who they date. 

I'd approach this carefully though. There is the possibility the relative will ignore your comments and this relationship could become more serious. If you've been highly critical of Alex it could put you and your relationship with your relative in a difficult position.

Spendless

Gavin83 said:

I wouldn't expect a crime such as this to be in the news. For it to appear in the news and name the individual it would have to be a serious crime or something particularly unusual.

However while I understand your concern is it really down to you to police this relatives boyfriends? Presumably this relative is an adult and while you haven't mentioned the nature of their vulnerability the use of the past tense suggests they're no longer considered vulnerable. I guess you can give your advice but ultimately it's your relatives choice who they date. 

I'd approach this carefully though. There is the possibility the relative will ignore your comments and this relationship could become more serious. If you've been highly critical of Alex it could put you and your relationship with your relative in a difficult position.

I'm not meaning the nationals, I'm meaning the local paper, which reports on all sort of irrelevant nonsense, so I'd have thought it would have picked up on that and in this case the alleged driver found with drugs on them supposedly went to prison for 4 years. There's definitely stories like that about people in the local rag  about drugs offences and prison sentences, so no reason to think why Alex's case has been missed especially since it's been confirmed on here that it's unusual if a passenger ends up with a driving ban.
 
Nope, but by the same token I don't have to drive said relative to any dates that I don't approve of - relative wants to go meet up that bad, they can get themselves there.

Spendless

To update this. Alex told my relative that they had convictions for GBH/assault and a toddler son they weren't allowed to see because of it. Relative will no longer be seeing Alex. I was asked if my relative is or was vulnerable. That's a grey area, completely better from how they once were but still prone to moments of vulnerability.

Glad my gut that Alex wasn't honest was correct. Thanks for the replies that confirmed my suspicions. 

T.T.D

Spendless said:

To update this. Alex told my relative that they had convictions for GBH/assault and a toddler son they weren't allowed to see because of it. Relative will no longer be seeing Alex. I was asked if my relative is or was vulnerable. That's a grey area, completely better from how they once were but still prone to moments of vulnerability.

Glad my gut that Alex wasn't honest was correct. Thanks for the replies that confirmed my suspicions. 

In this case your relative would be classed a vulnerable adult generally this is because they have a condition where these bouts of vulnerability would stem from be it depression or Bipolar and so on even undiagnosed condition your relative would sit in this category.