AA urges motorists not to drink and drive
09 Dec 2011
The AA has launched its annual campaign warning people about the
dangers of
driving while under the influence of
alcohol.
It warned that milder weather this year than seen in 2010
could encourage Britons to drive to events like office Christmas
parties and then feel tempted to get behind the wheel after a few
drinks.
Together with Pernod, it carried out a poll and discovered that
five per cent of respondents have been in a car with someone who
was probably over the legal blood alcohol limit in the past three
years.
This was most likely to be the case in London, while 18 to
24-year-olds were at the most risk of travelling with a drink
driver.
Meanwhile, a quarter of those polled said they feel pressurised
into getting behind the wheel after alcohol consumption, with half
of these admitting most coercion came from work colleagues.
AA president Edmund King said: "We all need to be taking
responsibility for each other this Christmas ... it is frightening
that one and a half million people may have got a lift with a drink
driver in the last three years."
He recommended that event organisers should provide soft drinks at
parties and urged revellers to organise transport before a big
night out.
The AA's figures show that drink drive fatalities account for 13.5
per cent of all road accident deaths.
Earlier in 2011, the University of Nottingham found that problems
with their wellbeing could be triggers for women to get behind the
wheel of a car after drinking.
Anyone caught driving or attempting to drive while under the
influence may wish to contact the expert team of
drink driving
solicitors at Hodge Jones & Allen.
