Government should be tougher on drink driving, says Britain
Imagine you’ve gone round your mate’s for a drink, or headed down to the local watering hole. You’ve had a lot of laughs and just a few drinks, but not enough to go over the 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood limit. Think it’s alright to hop into your car and drive home, since it’s perfectly legal?
You might want to give that a second thought, as a majority of British motorists would disagree with you. According to a recent survey of 1,700 people conducted by Motorpoint, 66.7 per cent would approve of a tougher approach to drink driving. These results are emerging at a critical time when police forces are launching their annual drink drive awareness campaigns, and new legislation about drink drive limits have been passed in the UK.
According to road safety charity Brake, drivers who have had a drink or two but are still under the limit are more likely to cause casualties and three times more likely to have accidents in a crash than those who are over the limit. More than 1,000 people are injured every year as a result of drink driving, and an increasing percentage of organisations and motorists are citing the fact that the UK currently has the highest drink drive limits in Europe.
Mark Carpenter, Managing Director of Motorpoint, shared his thoughts on the issue, commenting: “There is widespread confusion among motorists with regards to drink drive limits and what’s safe and what’s not. The results of the Motorpoint poll clearly show motorists feel the Government needs to act and make it clear to everyone that drinking and driving don’t mix and that the best way forward for all concerned in the UK is simply to adopt a zero tolerance approach.”
So how many drinks are too many? That depends on a lot of factors including your gender, your metabolic rate, stress levels, whether you’ve eaten recently or not, and unfortunately, your age. But there are a few things you can do to ensure your safety on the road. Independent charity Drinkaware has a number of handy tips, including measuring drinks instead of pouring them, using smaller glasses and not filling them to the rim, pouring your own drinks so its easier to keep track of your alcohol intake, and going for a shandy or spritzer instead of wine or other drinks with a high alcohol content.
We here at CaravanTimes wish all our readers happy and safe nights out, and hope that you’ll keep an eye out on the number of empty glasses piling up at the table before you pick up your keys.
