Drink-driving

Never get in the car with someone who’s been drinking. Alcohol affects our brain, altering the way we think and make driving decisions such as braking, steering or changing lanes. A driver who has been drinking is a dangerous driver.

Around 3,000 people are killed or seriously injured every year in crashes involving drink-drivers and it’s often the passengers, and other road users, who get hurt.
 
Drivers who have alcohol in their system are at least 50 times more likely to cause a road crash than a driver who hasn’t been drinking. This is because they:
  • Have slower reactions
  • Have poorer judgement of speed and distance
  • Have a reduced field of vision
  • Take longer to stop
  • Have increased confidence and take more risks.
 
If you’re with someone who has been drinking and who intends on driving, do what you can to talk them out of it. If you can’t talk them round then report them to the police.
 
It takes about one hour to rid one unit of alcohol from your system. This means that if one of your mates has been drinking the night before there’s a good chance they could still be over the limit the next day.
 
The legal alcohol limit
The legal alcohol limit for drivers in the UK is:
  • 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, or
  • 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, or
  • 107 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine.
     

Think! - UK anti-drink driving advert (Click on the title to view the video clip)