On average 3000 people are killed or seriously injured each year in drink drive collisions.

Blackpool Council’s Travel and Road Safety team promote anti-drink drive campaigns twice a year to warn road users of the dangers of drinking and driving.

This years campaign aims to educate road users about alcohol consumption and explain why even one drink could be too much.

There is no failsafe guide as to how much you can drink and stay under the legal limit. It can depend on your weight, sex, age, metabolism, stress levels, whether you have eaten or not and the amount and type of alcohol you have had. Any amount of alcohol affects your driving ability so the only way to stay safe is not to drink at all if you are driving

Any amount of alcohol can slow a driver’s reaction times, effect their judgement of speed and distance and reduce the field of vision. So if you are going to drive don’t drink anything at all.

There is also a danger the morning after. If you have been out drinking you may still be affected by alcohol the next day. Even though you may feel OK when you get up, you may be over the legal alcohol limit or unfit to drive, and could still lose your licence.

It takes around one hour for the body to get rid of one unit of alcohol. That means it takes at least eight hours to get rid of the alcohol from four pints of normal strength lager or beer so you will probably still be over the limit if you drive to work or college the next morning.

It is impossible to get rid of alcohol any faster. Neither a shower, nor a cup of coffee, nor other ways of sobering up will help, it just takes time.


Drink Drive Facts

• Nearly one in six of all deaths on the road involve drivers who are over the legal alcohol limit.
• The legal limit in the UK is 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
• But there is no failsafe guide as to how much you can drink and stay under the limit. 
  Alcohol affects your ability to drive safely as your reaction times are impaired and you're unable to judge speed and distances.
• People who drive at twice the current legal alcohol level are at least 50 times more likely to be involved in a fatal car crash.
• And if you think you won't get caught, more than half a million breath tests are carried out each year and on average 100,000 are found to be positive.
• Driving or attempting to drive whilst above the legal limit or unfit through drink carries a maximum penalty of 6 months' imprisonment, a fine of up to £5,000 and a minimum 12 months driving ban.
• Being in charge of a vehicle whilst over the legal limit or unfit through drink could result in 3 months' imprisonment plus a fine of up to £2,500 and a driving ban.
• Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison, a minimum 2 year driving ban and a requirement to pass an extended driving test before the offender is able to drive legally again.
• Some 20,000 lives are estimated to have been saved in the last 13 years thanks to central government drink drive campaigns.