According to statistics, over 90% of all UK drivers consider that driving under the influence of alcohol is extremely dangerous, and recognize the dangers of driving when drunk. The problem with this statistic is that it means that over two million UK drivers must think that drunk driving is not dangerous. This could not be further from the truth, each year on British roads 3000 to 3500 people are killed in drink related accidents.
Newspaper headlines commonly claim that the numbers are falling, although it is true that over the last few years the numbers have fallen, that is only compared to record highs. When you look at the first time the figure was recorded back in 1979 only 1600 people were killed, half of today’s figures. Therefore, it seems hard to argue that these are ‘good’ figures and numbers of deaths are going down.
The UK legal limit for driving with alcohol in your system is 80mg of alcohol to 100ml of blood. It does not necessarily follow that if you body has less than this limit you are safe to drive. In the US, many states have successfully prosecuted drivers who were below the legal limit but still deemed to be unfit to drive.
Even in the late 70’s if the police stopped a driver who was drunk, they often did not have breathalyzers available. And would also take an attitude of the driver was ‘not too drunk’ and let them walk the rest of the way home. That attitude has disappeared completely; police now always seek convictions for drivers who are even a tiny fraction over the limit.
If you choose to drink and drive the law now has stiff penalties, combined with a strong will to make an example of, not just some, but all offenders. Driving above the limit carries a 12 month ban, a