Drink driving - the facts
It’s Christmas. Hurrah! Time for merrymaking and the like. Problem is, at the time of year we all want to go out the most, it’s dark, wet, cold…not nice to walk in. Probably easier to take the car, and just have a couple.
We’ve all been there, etc. included – it’s tempting to have a warming drink when it’s bleak midwinter outside. But don’t. Either leave the car at home, or stick to the soft drinks all night. Better to wrap up warm than wrap your car around a lamp-post, after all…
There are plenty of good reasons not to drink and drive, and it’s not all about whether you’ll crash or not. Here are the important things to know:
What’s the legal limit?
The legal limit in the UK is 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. Thing is, we’re all different, and our bodies take in alcohol in different ways, depending on your age, gender, weight, metabolism – there’s no safe guide. A pint for one person might be under the limit, but over it for their drinking buddy. In other words, if you’re driving, the only safe option is not to drink anything. At all.
When are you safe to drive after drinking?
Again, it varies from person to person, so it’s better not to. Don’t forget, it takes a LONG WHILE for alcohol to leave your bloodstream, so if you’ve been caning it the night before, you’re likely to still be over the limit in the morning. Ignore the car. Walk, get public transport, or better still lie on the sofa and stay put – there’s bound to be a decent film on somewhere.
What are the penalties for drink driving?
Of course, you’re never going to think about whether you’ll crash or not – who wants to do that, after all? It hurts (or worse), and costs lots. But you can be pulled over by police on suspicion of drunk driving at any time, and you don’t need to be weaving all over the road. If you’re over the limit, here’s what could happen:
- Six months' imprisonment, plus a fine of up to £5,000 and a driving ban of at least 12 months.
- Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison, a minimum 2 year driving ban, and a requirement to pass an extended driving test before the offender is able to drive legally again.
- Police have new stop and search powers, and also the power to take a blood alcohol sample from hospitalised drivers without their consent. Yes, this is scary, but it’s also another reason to stay off the mulled wine.
So that’s a criminal record, no money, and no transport. Good luck getting a job with that little combination under your belt.
Do accidents happen?
Oh, yes. 540 people were killed last year in alcohol-related road accidents. Add the friends, families and loved ones of those people together, and that’s thousands of lives devastated because someone couldn’t turn a drink down. Etc. thinks you’re probably smarter than that.
Add to that the 6,000 people injured in drink-related road accidents, and you can see why people make such a fuss about it. That’s a lot of damaged people. Add the number of injured people, people killed in accidents, and all the families of all those people together, and that’s a reasonable-sized stadium full of lives affected by drink driving. That’s too many lives, in other words.
So eat! Drink! Be merry! Tell people you shouldn’t that you fancy them quite a lot under the mistletoe! Wear those stupid santa hats to the pub! Have that 18th mince pie ‘because it’s only once a year’! Slur your way through ‘Fairytale of New York’ over and over again!
Just don’t get in the car afterwards. Easy.
Find out more from the Department for Transport’s road safety site.
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