11th November 2022

Alcohol Awareness – Don’t Drink And Drive

With the festive season around the corner, we wanted to share how alcohol affects driving, what are the UK drink-drive limits and penalties, and some tips on how to avoid putting yourself and others at risk of accidents.

Many of the functions that we depend on to drive safely are affected when we drink alcohol. For example, the brain takes longer to receive messages from the eye, processing information becomes more difficult and instructions to the body’s muscles are delayed resulting in slower reaction times.

You can also experience blurred and double vision, which affects your ability to see things clearly while you are driving. You’re also more likely to take potentially dangerous risks because you can act on urges you normally repress.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Level of alcohol:

Micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath – 35

Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood – 80

Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of urine – 107

 

Scotland

Level of alcohol:

Micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath – 22

Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood – 50

Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of urine – 67

You could be imprisoned, banned from driving and face a fine if you’re found guilty of drink-driving.

Driving or attempting to drive while above the legal limit or unfit through drink.

You may get:

  • 6 months’ imprisonment
  • An unlimited fine
  • A driving ban for at least 1 year (3 years if convicted twice in 10 years)

Refusing to provide a specimen of breath, blood or urine for analysis.

You may get:

  • 6 months’ imprisonment
  • An unlimited fine
  • A ban from driving for at least 1 year

Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink.

You may get:

  • Life imprisonment
  • An unlimited fine
  • A ban from driving for at least 5 years
  • An extended driving test before your licence is returned

Other problems you could face

A conviction for drink-driving also means:

  • Your car insurance costs will increase significantly
  • If you drive for work, your employer will see your conviction on your licence
  • You may have trouble travelling to countries like the USA

Arrange within your group of friends who’s going to be the designated driver. A designated driver is the person who abstains from alcohol on a night out so they can drive the rest of their group of friends home safely. If you live somewhere with good public transport links – take advantage of them. If you’re planning on staying out beyond the last train, tube or bus, make sure you’ve got a couple of taxi numbers.

If you have no option but to drive, stick to zero alcohol beers, mocktails or standard soft drinks.

Although most people are aware of the risks of drink-driving above the legal limit at night, a lot of people get into their cars the morning after a night out drinking, unaware that they could still be over the legal limit to drive.

Just because you’ve been to sleep, it doesn’t mean you’re no longer affected by alcohol. Alcohol is removed from the blood at the rate of about one unit an hour – but this varies from person to person. According to the NHS, the speed at which your body processes alcohol can depend on your size, gender, age, the state of your liver, your metabolism, how much food you have eaten, the type and strength of the alcohol you’ve consumed and whether you’re taking medication. There’s nothing you can do to speed up the rate alcohol leaves your system. Having a cup of coffee or a cold shower won’t do anything at all to get rid of the alcohol. They may make you feel slightly different, but they won’t eliminate the alcohol in any way.

Drivers need to take responsibility and use alternative means of transport after a heavy night drinking.

  • Opt for lower strength drinks: 4% ABV or lower beer, switching pints for half pints; 12% ABV or lower wine and small measures (125ml); single spirit measures rather than doubles.
  • Alternate the alcoholic drinks you do have with soft drinks or water.
  • Stop drinking alcohol well before the end of the night so your body has time to process the alcohol before the following morning.

Bear in mind that while a stressful day may make a beer or glass of wine with lunch seem like a nice idea, it will make you drowsy so you should avoid having alcohol with lunch. Alcohol is a sedative and even one glass will leave you feeling fatigued for the remainder of the day.