Drinking or Being Drunk in a Camper Van – Intent to Drive

Parking up for the night and opening a beer or a bottle of wine is a common way for many people to unwind. In fact opening a beer or alcoholic beverage is by far and away one of the defining moments to setting up camp.

Intent to Drive? According to UK police, the intent to drive a vehicle has to be established. Hence hiding your keys, pivoting your swivel seat as well as obscuring the windshield with blackout or thermal blinds are just some of the ways in which fellow campers enjoy a beer however in accidence with UK Law and Acts simply having your keys on you or in the vehicle is enough for charges to be brought against your for being drunk and in charge of a motor vehicle yet many van dwellers suggest that one should never be prosecuted for such things citing understaffing by the UK police as well as passing the personality test be sufficient to circumvent this law.

Should an officer of the law want to talk to you then indeed you may have to watch yourself, likewise smoking pot/ weed is a big no no in the UK as roadside drug testing can highlight substances such as marijuana and cocaine upto 2 days later, thus those who partake in such activities should take extra caution when parked up in their campervans as there may still be a chance that you can be over the limit even a few days later.

When travelling France it is law to carry a roadside breath test, these can be purchased online or from chemists and are a good way to check that you are under the prescribed drink drive limit, also digital breath testers are available for those who require more than one test at a time.

Pub Camping? Those who choose to park their vans in pub car parks should be extra vigilant as the UK police are a clever bunch, hence if they spot your van in a pub car park then they are indeed more likely to give you a tug or knock on your door to see who is in there and if you are inebriated. Hence try to park your van away from the road or where it cannot be easily seen by the general public.

So if you are parked up somewhere public or where police or passers-by can see you are not on private land then indeed one should take car however repeating such methods as those stated above, i.e. closing the front blinds, swivelling the front seats as well as putting the keys somewhere inaccessible should be sufficient, you can also read this article on how to deal with the UK police knocking on your van.