Four in 10 ‘aware of someone who has driven over the drink limit’

Nearly four in 10 people have friends they suspect have got behind the wheel while over the drink-drive limit, new research has found.

And while almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of the 1,865 questioned as part of the RAC’s survey believe there is more pressure to drink during the festive period, 28 per cent admitted that they weren’t prepared to convince a friend they believed to be over the limit not to drive.

Thirty-seven per cent of respondents said they knew someone they believed to have been over the limit when driving.

Pete Williams, RAC road safety spokesman, said: “Drink-driving, whether someone is just over the limit or several times above it, is unacceptable – it ruins lives. So it’s shocking to see in our research that so many people know drivers who have got behind the wheel when they’re over the limit.

“It’s also sad that a sizeable proportion of those surveyed are unwilling to try to persuade a friend who’s too drunk to drive, not to.”

Only 38 per cent of those questioned as part of the survey said that they had a zero-alcohol policy when driving to a social function. A further 27 per cent admitted that they will have one small alcoholic drink followed by non-alcoholic ones and then drive home, while 10 per cent said they would have one large alcoholic drink, such as a pint of beer or large glass of wine, and then get behind the wheel.

Forty-three per cent of respondents said they would try to persuade a friend who had been drinking to take a taxi home, while nine per cent said they would warn a friend they would call the police if they didn’t heed their warning not to drive.