60% increase in the proportion of morning after drink-drive accidents
OK, the data we are going to talk about has been researched by the maker of a breathalyser called AlcoSense which you and I can go out and buy ourselves, but please don’t for one minute think this is in a effort to sell their products, as they are doing an excellent job in flagging a real problem that we should all be absolutely aware of.
There are those drivers that drink and drive without regard to anyone else and are prepared to take the risk that they will be caught, or worse still involved in an accident and this article isn’t going to affect them as frankly, they just don’t care.
But for the rest of us, that do care, we need to be conscious of the fact that even when we think we have behaved properly, that we could unintentionally still be driving with excess alcohol in our system and still be breaking the law, but worst of all we could still be placing ourselves in danger.
The new data has shown that whilst the total number of drink-drive accidents is falling overall, the number of morning after drink-drive accidents has reached an all-time high and in most cases, the drivers involved will be completely unaware they still have enough alcohol in their system to put them over the drink-drive limit.
AlcoSense say that official drink-drive statistics show that in the past decade, there has been almost a 60% increase in the proportion of morning after drink-drive accidents. In 2010 figures showed that 18.2% of all drink-drive accidents happened between 5am (when shift workers and early starters would be driving to work) and 1pm. That figure was only 11.4% in 2000 and even lower at 6.9% in 1990. Meanwhile in that same period, afternoon and evening figures have fallen by just over 10%.
AlcoSense analysed the figures further and noticed a sharp rise in the number of morning-after accidents from 2005 onwards where new licensing laws allowed pubs and bars to stay open later at night.
So it’s clear it takes longer than we think to clear the alcohol from our system and people believe that just a few hours sleep will get rid of the alcohol, but that’s clearly not true. It’s claimed those 4 pints of medium strong beer, or 4 large glasses of wine, drunk between 9pm and midnight, could take as long as 14.8 hours to leave your system, meaning you could still be easily still be over the legal limit at 11am the next day.
So the message is clear, and that’s despite thinking we are OK to drive, in many cases we are not and the only answer is that we drink far less, or only drink when we know we won’t be driving.
I am going to give a shameless plug to AlcoSense (who we don’t know and have no connection what so ever with) as they make a simple breathalyser device that can be used again and again and just might be something anyone who relies on their licence should invest in, or at least, put on their Christmas present list.
The breathalyser is just size of a mobile phone and easy to use and AlcoSense says it quickly and accurately tells the user when the alcohol has passed from their system. Costing from just £24.99 up to £59.99 depending on the model you choose, the AlcoSense breathalyzer can be bought from Halfords and many on-line stores or you can contact AlcoSense direct on 0800 195 0088.
