We can all play a part in preventing drink drive tragedies this Christmas

A survey released today by Brake and Direct Line looking at drink driving behaviour among young people suggests the drink drive message is getting through to most. Far fewer young drivers admit getting behind the wheel after drinking than four years ago. But despite this progress, it remains that three in 10 are willing to take this deadly risk, and, worryingly, ‘morning-after’ drink driving is a major and growing trend: more than half owned up to this.

The question we are repeatedly asked is why would driving after drinking be on the decrease, yet more and more are risking driving early the morning after having a lot to drink? It seems likely that complacency and ignorance are both at play. Our surveys repeatedly indicate that while drink driving is claimed to be socially unacceptable – in that the vast majority acknowledge it’s a potentially deadly risk – there is still widespread misunderstanding about the effects of drinking even small amounts of alcohol, and about how long alcohol stays in your body.

This means while most people would say they never ‘drink drive’, many continue to think it doesn’t count if you only have one drink, or drive the morning after drinking a lot. Yet research shows that if you do either you’re taking a highly risky gamble with people’s lives. Just one small drink is enough to have a significant effect on your reaction times, judgment and ability to drive safely. And for the alcohol to leave your system, you should allow one hour for absorption, plus another hour for every small drink (containing one unit) consumed. So if you drink a lot, you could be under the influence all of the next day. The mistake many make is to think if they feel fine they are fine. But if you have alcohol in your system, your judgment is impaired, which means you can’t possibly judge your own impairment.

That’s why zero tolerance is the only responsible approach to drink driving. Hence we’re appealing for drivers to make a personal commitment to never drive after drinking anything – not a drop – and to plan ahead to ensure if they’re driving early the next day they limit themselves to no more than one or two drinks. We also continue to push the government to implement zero tolerance laws on drink driving. A lower drink drive limit, and increased police powers to enable random breath testing, would send a clear message it should be none for the road, and drink driving in any form won’t be tolerated.

But this isn’t just about drivers and the government adopting zero tolerance on drink driving: we need to all take this approach as a society. Drink driving remains one of the biggest killers on our roads, tearing families apart every Christmas and year round. If we are to stamp it out for good, we must make it truly socially unacceptable, and that means speaking out and doing everything we can to stop people driving on alcohol, even if it’s just one drink, or the day after the night before.

Brake and Direct Line’s survey of young drivers, and advice for drivers
Facts on drink driving
Brake’s not a drop campaign for government action

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