With statistics showing levels of home drinking are on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic, drivers are being warned about the dangers of morning after drink driving.
Figures quoted by AlcoSense suggest drinking at home in the UK has almost doubled to 100 million pints of beer a week – while the size of the glass of wine poured at home is thought to be larger than the measured pub unit.
The breathalyser firm says many people are jumping into their cars to join early morning supermarket queues for essential supplies, potentially unaware of alcohol in their system from the night before.
Statistics show that nearly a fifth of drink drive convictions occur in the morning, while a third of all breath tests administered following a collision are conducted between 7am and 1pm.
Hunter Abbott, managing director of AlcoSense, said: “If you consume three pints of beer or three large glasses of wine before retiring at 11pm, you’re unlikely to be totally clear of alcohol when driving to the supermarket for 7am.
“Even if you’re just at the English/Welsh legal drink drive limit, research shows you are 13 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than when sober.”
Thanks for that information on the source. I’ll look it up in due course.
Pat, Wales
+1
Here is the reference for the research statistic: Drugs and Alcohol: Their Relative Crash Risk, Romano et al, Maryland University. Published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol Drugs. Page 6, Table 6, BAC Model 1.
Julien, Faversham
+3
We get the drink – drive message and generally agree with it but please can commentators quote the source of the specific research when they make sweeping statements like “research shows you are 13 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than when sober.”
On investigation we often find caveats in the original documents missed in the subsequent quotes. Context is normally important.
Pat, Wales
+4