The FINANCIAL — The majority of drivers (56%) do not know when it is safe to drive the morning after drinking according to an AA-Populus survey of 21,000 drivers.
Moreover, ACPO police figures illustrate the big danger of ‘morning after’ drink drivers by showing that in 2011 more people failed breath tests in the morning – between the hours of 6am and 11am – than during the hour before or after midnight.
“Too many drivers are caught out by being over the limit the morning after the night before. We don’t want the morning after to end in mourning disasters so are advising drivers to think carefully before driving after a night out," Edmund King, AA president, said. "It is difficult to work out whether there is still alcohol in the system the following day. One unit of alcohol takes about one hour to get out of the system but this is not a precise science as it depends on size, gender, whether you have eaten, the state of your liver, your metabolism and even your mood. The best advice is if you are going to drink, don’t drive and if you are going to drive, don’t drink," he added.
“As the Christmas season begins, Pernod Ricard UK and the AA ask drivers to pay particular attention on the roads. We urge the public to be aware of driving early in the morning after Christmas festivities. It is important that drivers pay attention to how much they are drinking – the number of units per bottle is indicated on the back of all Pernod Ricard UK products to help the public calculate their alcohol intake," said Denis O’Flynn, Managing Director of Pernod Ricard UK states.
In the AA-Populus poll drivers were asked:
If you started drinking at 9pm and drank a total of 12 units of alcohol over three hours when do you think you would legally be allowed to drive again?
56% either didn’t know or selected a time when they might still be over the limit.
11% of 25-34 year olds thought they would be fine at 9am the next day.
Drivers in the North East and North West were least likely to know when it would be safe to drive (59%).
Drivers in Scotland, London and Eastern area were most likely to know when it might be safe (46%).
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