Drink driving limit is blurry

With Christmas approaching, Accident Advice Helpline has published a report concluding that nearly 90% of motorists do not know what the drink driving limit is in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Alcohol consumption goes up by about 40% in December, but only 12% of the 1,000 motorists questioned knew when they were over the legal limit.

Worryingly, nearly one in seven also thought it was safe to drive after drinking a long island iced tea, which has up to five shots of alcohol, while some respondents even thought they were safe to get behind the wheel after five pints or a full bottle of wine.

David Carter of Accident Advice Helpline, said, ‘There seems to be a worrying misunderstanding among UK motorists of what the actual drink drive alcohol limit is.

‘Motorists find it hard to know what 80 milligrams of alcohol for every 100 millilitres of blood actually is. While there are general rules of how much you can drink everyone is different so the only way to be 100% sure you’re fit to drive is to not drink at all.’

Of those surveyed, 44% agreed with David and would back the introduction of a zero tolerance policy to drink driving, while a further 29% wanted the legal limit reduced.

Accident Advice Helpline’s research also found that 42% of respondents thought gender had no impact on a person’s legal limit, while only 17% of men and nine per cent of women questioned correctly identified the safe limit.

The number of accidents caused by drink driving has dramatically decreased in the last 50 years, but the message has not reached everyone with a sobering 13% of road fatalities in 2012 caused by drivers over the legal limit.

Accident Advice Helpline has published the results of its survey to remind motorists that any amount of alcohol affects driving ability, and the penalties if caught can include a driving ban and a potential prison sentence.