Don’t let drink-driving play merry hell with your Christmas

Yes, it is that time of year once more. So let’s eat, drink and be merry. But let’s also leave the vehicle at property.

In 2012, there were 230 deaths due to drink driving – and the number of casualties is greater in November and December as the Christmas party season gets underway.

More than the limit

The law is strict about alcohol limits for drivers. The legal limit is

• 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 25 millilitres of breath


• 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 25 millilitres of blood, or


• 107 milligrammes of alcohol per 25 millilitres of urine.

In Scotland the limit will be 50 milligrammes of alcohol in 25 millilitres of blood (and equivalent measures) from December 5 onwards.

Measure for measure

It’s impossible safely to translate the limits into precise measures. Alcohol affects men and women in diverse approaches and depends on your weight, age, sex and metabolism.

The sort of alcohol you are drinking, whether or not or not you have eaten and your tension levels can also have an effect on your potential to tolerate and approach the demon drink.

In other words, your buddy could get behind the wheel soon after one particular glass of wine, but you could be more than the limit.

Slow reactions

Even a modest amount of alcohol can impair your driving ability.

It makes it more challenging to judge distance and speed and our reactions are also slower, which probably explains why a large proportion of drink-drive accidents take place within 3 miles of the start off of the journey.

Easily completed

Drink-drivers do not typically conform to the stereotype of the raging boozer who can barely stroll let alone handle a car.

Far more often than not the miscreant is the mum who takes the car to her friend’s residence, has a few glasses of wine, but decides to risk the short journey property.

Or the man who nips into the pub on the way back from operate, has one particular too several, then gets in the auto.

That is why most professionals suggest that you steer clear of all alcoholic drinks if you are driving. Take pleasure in a soft drink, non-alcoholic beer or a mocktail instead.

Morning soon after

And do not picture you will be sober by the morning, either.

It requires time for alcohol to work its way out of your method and no quantity of coffee or cold showers will support.

Did you know, for instance, that you shouldn’t drive for 13 hours after downing a bottle of wine or 4 pints of lager? If you stop drinking at midnight, you need to not therefore get behind the wheel till the afternoon of the following day.

Resist temptation

It is less difficult to resist temptation if you strategy ahead. Take benefit of any public transport. Carry taxi numbers or book a taxi in advance so you can often get house.

Alternatively, you could designate a driver if you are with a group of close friends – and make sure they abstain from alcohol.

Harsh penalties

Drinking and driving can have a devastating effect on your life and the lives of other people – you could, of course, injure or even kill a person.

The penalties if you’re caught driving over the legal alcohol limit are also harsh:

• at the really least, you will be banned from driving for a minimum of a single year


• you could be fined up to £5,000


• you will end up with a criminal record


• your licence will be endorsed for 11 years


• you could even be sent to prison for up to 6 months, based on the severity of the offence.

The police will also process your case just as they would any other criminal or suspected criminal. So, if you fail a roadside breath test, you will be arrested and taken to a police station. You will then undertake further tests and could be charged. It’s definitely no enjoyable.

Higher value

There are financial implications of drink driving, also.

Insurers certainly do not like motorists with earlier convictions, so your insurance premium will most likely rocket. You could also shed your job if it includes driving and you could be denied access to other nations, including the USA.

The Institute of Sophisticated Motorists reckons that a drink drive conviction could cost in between £20,000 and £50,000 if you take into account fines, legal charges, vehicle insurance and unemployment – and that is a lot of money for a handful of glasses of wine.

The message is clear. If you are out this festive season, it must be a case of none for the road rather than a single for the road.

Don’t let drink-driving play merry hell with your Christmas