Christmas : A bad time to drive.

Well once again, Christmas has come, and many of us will be visiting family and having a good time. Apart from the usual family member who will drink too much then sleep in the armchair all afternoon. The rest of the family will only have a few drinks during the day. Isn't it amazing how the drinks add up though: a sherry when guests arrive, a glass of wine or two with the turkey, a short drink afterwards.... then its time to go home. Safely?


About a week ago I was watching the Police Camera Action Drink Driving Special with Gethin Jones. In the program several people were interviewed, and I was amazed at the stupidity of them. Even knowing they were probably over the limit they said they would (and do regularly) drive after drinking. The program revealed that many drivers have no idea what the legal alcohol limit is for driving. Their ideas about how much they could drink and still be ok to drive verged from slightly off to unbelievably optimistic, with one girl being way over the limit after drinking 8 malibu and cokes (or some similar drink).

Of course people are different: your size, metabolism and how full your stomach is can all have an effect on how much alcohol you can consume before noticing any impairment... but can we really rely on whether we feel in control or not? Gethin Jones discovered the answer is no.


Even after one drink, when he was well under the limit, his driving ability was noticeably worse... and predictably did not get any better the more he drank over the course of his experiement. Furthermore, the most concerning thing was that after becoming over the limit, he felt more confident, and as if he was more in control than when he had consumed less alcohol. Tracking his eye response to the road as he drove proved otherwise... his eyes darting everywhere except where he needed to be looking.


This tv program of course is by no means an especially foolproof or scientific plumbline for drink driving studies, but it did reveal the attitudes of some of the general public. A suprising number of people drink and drive. So if you need to drive this Christmas, don't drink! No alcohol is the safe bet... but if you have to drink at all, work out accurately how much you can have beforehand... then stick well under that limit.

Remember, its not just you thats on the road... many drivers will be out there after being 3, 4, 5 or more times over the limit. Don't become one of them.


Oh, by the way.. happy Christmas!