Drivers urged to pledge ‘not a drop, not a drag’

Posted: December 5, 2012

Posted in: Car Accidents Road Traffic Accidents 

Road safety charity Brake has urged all drivers to commit to ‘not a drop, not a drag’ when driving this festive period.

The call comes as the Association of Chief Police Officers launches its annual festive drink and drug driving enforcement campaign. During last year’s campaign, English and Welsh police forces stopped and tested 157,000 drivers, making 7,200 arrests.

According to Brake, in 2011, one in seven road deaths in Great Britain involved drink drivers over the current 80mg limit. Around 280 deaths and 1,290 serious injuries occurred when someone was over the drink drive limit.

Many more drink-drive crashes are caused by drivers who only have small amounts of alcohol in their blood. A further estimated 65 road deaths per year are caused by drivers who are under the drink-drive limit, but who have a significant amount of alcohol in their blood over 50mg.

Research shows even very small amounts of alcohol, well under the current UK limit, significantly increase reaction times and therefore the risk of crashing. With a level of 20-50mg of alcohol per 100ml blood, drivers have at least a three times greater risk of dying in a car crash than those with no alcohol in their blood. This increases to at least six times with an alcohol level of 50-80mg, and eleven times with 80-100mg

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