Don’t Take the Risk with Drink Driving This Christmas
The AA Warns Against Drink Driving
With the country gripped with an abundance of snow covering the whole country and still reeling from the effects of the recent flooding back in November, there is another menace to the roads that will receive a lot of attention this Christmas.
The drink driver. As the years go by the scorn held towards those who decide to get behind the wheel whilst intoxicated continues as more people are injured or killed at their hands. With the country enthralled in Christmas celebrations, those that drink and drive could soon be landing themselves in court.
The festive season is a time when the police step up their target on drink drivers, with a number of methods of catching them at their disposal and the AA is warning that unless you want to end up being prosecuted then you do not want to be drunk when you come across these situations.
Last year the AA reports that 5% of the 183,397 breath tests carried out were returned positive and this is likely to remain the case this year as drink drivers are caught by roadblocks on the night or the next morning, friends that inform the police or accidents that lead to a breath test.
The police know when the most drink drivers hit the roads as well as the likely areas in which they might drive. Therefore, roadblocks could be a common sight around areas where there are many pubs or routes to establishments. However, some people do not factor in the amount of time it takes for alcohol to leave the system, so being caught at a roadblock the following morning could also leave someone in hot water.
According to the AA, more people are willing to inform the police if someone they know is drink driving. 80% have said they would tell the police if someone they didn’t know was behind the wheel whilst drunk in addition to the 67% who said they would inform police of a friend’s behaviour.
One thing that people will want to avoid all of the time is an accident, but even if the accident is not your fault the police are likely to breathalyse you, so if you are drunk who are going to be in hot water even if you did not cause the accident.
Whilst the UK is bracing itself for an array of offending drivers, the rest of Europe could be faring worse. According to reports released last month, the UK is second only to Ireland when it comes to driving safely – and this includes driving whilst drunk.
But remember, it is not just drink driving that could be a problem and if you are caught with illegal drugs in your system whilst behind the wheel – this could lead to a whole world of trouble.
Source: AA Press Release Dec 2009
