Drink Driving: Don’t Get Stung This Xmas!

Liverpool Victoria, a leading UK underwriter, has published a press release revealing a staggering nationwide ignorance to the reality of drink driving, and regarding how many units of alcohol can be consumed before getting behind the wheel. Between the 2nd and the 4th of November 2012, a total of 2028 adults aged 18+ in Great Britain were surveyed online regarding drink driving. Statistics provided in the report claimed that 80% of the drivers surveyed underestimated the units of alcohol in a pint of lager, 55% mistakenly believed a 250ml glass of wine contained 2 units or less of alcohol when it’s actually 3 units, and 1/5 of the drivers failed to name the correct number of units for any alcoholic beverage. The statistics are even more concerning when you consider that despite this ignorance, 15% of the drivers admitted that they have driven under the influence whilst knowingly over the legal alcohol limit, and an overwhelming 88% admitted they were aware it negatively affected their driving and reactions. The ignorance unfortunately did not stop at being uneducated on the amount of units per alcoholic drink, a whopping 66% of those surveyed did not even know what the legal limits are!

• 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood
• 35mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath
• 107mg of alcohol per 100ml of urine

Due to factors including, but not limited to, age, gender and metabolism, tolerance to alcohol varies, meaning it may be difficult to judge whether you are over the limit purely by judging how inebriated you feel. As a general rule of thumb:

• Approximately 4 units for the average Male
• Approximately 2.5 units for the average Female

Do yourself a favour this Xmas, don’t get yourself arrested and banned from driving. Official Police Data made available to LV= confirmed nationwide suspicions that December is the month where arrests for drink driving peak, as there are publicised crackdowns annually over the festive period. Greater Manchester Police hold the current record for the number of drivers caught under the influence over the last 3 years, averaging over 360 per month; this is almost double that of runners up Hampshire Police with 7,006 drivers caught over the same period. If you’re going to take one piece of advice this year, listen to John O’Roarke the Managing Director of LV= car insurance: “The only way to be certain of being under the limit is to completely abstain from alcohol before driving. The key to enjoying the festive season is to plan ahead and don’t drive if you’ve had a drink.” Related Link http://www.lv.com/media_centre/press_releases/drivers-clueless-about-drink-drive-limits