Road Safety - Festive Period
Survey results issued have revealed that young people are willing to risk their own life, as well as their friend's lives, by getting behind the wheel while under the influence. The research shows that 10% of young drivers, UK wide, regularly take to the wheel under the influence of drink or drugs which highlights the need to wake up young drivers to the risks they are taking. (Research carried out by Auto Trader motoring website and magazine, 2007)
With the festive season approaching, many young people will be in high spirits, partying hard and enjoying the festive cheer but means that they are more likely to be drinking, and some may even dabble with drugs. We all tend to let our hair down at Christmas but we must remind young drivers that they should not combine drinking and taking drugs with driving. Drink and/or drug drivers are ignoring the life-threatening dangers they, and innocent bystanders, face. They also risk having to live with the consequences of their actions. We must remind them of the penalties that they WILL face.
It's not just drivers that need reminding of the dangers of drink and drug driving; passengers also need to consider the risks involved with getting in a car with someone who is under the influence. It's very easy to accept a lift from a friend who has had a couple so that you don't get left behind in the cold and rain but often passengers feel peer pressured into accepting a lift. If one of their friends has accepted a lift they don't want to look like the party pooper so accept the lift too, putting their life in danger. We need to empower young people to be brave and tell their friends not to drink and drive and to urge them to arrange alternative transport after a night out.
With statistics showing that calls to the anonymous phone line Crimestoppers increase over the festive period, Road Safety Scotland wants to increase the paranoia among potential drink drivers around the issue and encourage people to think "who is watching me?"
- Never drink alcohol or take drugs before driving- Don't risk it.
- If offered a lift by someone who's been drinking or has taken drugs walk away.
- When caught drink or drug-driving you WILL lose your licence for at least one year, you face up to fourteen years imprisonment, and will receive a criminal record for 20 years, or until you are 40 (whichever is longer).
- Drink driving convictions mean you may be refused car insurance, will almost certainly have to pay much higher insurance premiums when you eventually able to drive again, and may affect your chances of employment. It may even affect your holiday plans as visiting countries like the USA becomes more difficult.
- You are now likely to be breathalysed if you're stopped by the police for any moving traffic offence, so your licence and maybe even your job could be dependent on something as slender as the filament of a light bulb in your tail light
CRIMESTOPPERS
Crimestoppers has been in business for twenty years and has successfully offered a vital service to the public for passing on information about crimes anonymously. In that time, the anonymity guarantee has never been breached.
The service allows the people to give information about crimes anonymously and help the police solve crimes. Calls are not traced or taped and do not appear on phone bills, however it is not a freephone number as some mobile networks do charge calls to this number
Telephone 0800 555 111
There was a 44% increase in calls to Crimestoppers regarding drink drivers in December and January last year
For more help and information you can contact Road Safety Scotland on 0131 472 9200 or click on the link www.roadsafetyscotland.org.uk
Audio Features
Listen again to our on air features for this Life Matters article. Click on the 'play' link next to one of the titles to play that item.
PLAY > Drink Drive 1
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