Festive Fun Student Safety

Festive Fun Student Safety!

The campaign aims to inform all drivers and their family/friends that a drink drive conviction has the potential to ruin their life and the lives of others.

There are legal and personal consequences such as:

Being caught & breathalysed by the police;
12 month driving ban;
Criminal record;
Hefty fine;
Lifestyle changes (i.e. potential loss of job, relationships or car).

It is not the aim of this campaign to play down the risks of drinking and driving. Alcohol and motor vehicles represent a dangerous and potentially lethal cocktail. Although the figures have been falling steadily in recent years, each year in Britain over 400 people are killed in road accidents where excess alcohol is a factor. Thousands more are seriously injured. Being below the legal alcohol limit is no guarantee that your driving ability will not be impaired. At 50% above the limit, your chances of being involved in a fatal or serious injury accident are five times higher than those of a completely sober driver. Twice the legal limit, and that figure rises to twenty times.

Once you have had a few drinks, the only thing that will reduce your alcohol level is time, and plenty of time at that. Your body can only metabolise one unit of alcohol per hour (the equivalent of a half-pint of ordinary strength beer). After a heavy drinking session, you could still be over the limit the following morning, or even much later in the day. There are cases of people being convicted of drink-driving when they had not had a drink for twenty-four hours. Black coffee or hangover medicines might make you feel better, but they will not bring your alcohol level down any quicker.

And if you are so arrogant and thoughtless that you couldn't care less about endangering the lives of others, bear in mind that 60% of the deaths in drink-related accidents are of the drinking driver himself.

Drinking and driving really does wreck lives, and the life it is most likely to wreck is your own.

Stay low - stay safe!

Alcohol content

Standard (175ml) glass of wine - 2 units
Large (250ml) glass of wine - 3 units
Pint of standard lager - 2.3 units
Pint of premium lager - 2.8 units
Pint of strong cider - 4.7 units

The legal drink-drive limit is 80mg per 100 millilitres of blood, but this cannot easily be translated into alcohol units as it can be affected by build, sex, whether food has been eaten, and a host of other factors.