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You booze, you cruise, you lose: tips from IAM RoadSmart

Drunk motorists cause thousands of accidents on UK roads every year. Some 1,380 people were killed or seriously injured when at least one driver was over the limit. This represents a statistically significant rise from 1,310 in 2014. A lot of people may be surprised to learn that accidents occur the most over the summer period. This week’s tips give advice on drink driving, from IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards Richard Gladman.

  • Know how much you are drinking. Drinks consumed at home or at a friend’s house are often larger than those in public venues and may contain a lot more units of alcohol than you think

 

  • Leave your vehicle at home. If you do take your car and change your mind make sure you have parked your car in a place that you are able to leave overnight before you start drinking. Don’t go back to it after as you have had a drink it may be difficult to prove you were not going to drive

     

  • Get your transport sorted out beforehand. If you arrange a taxi or minibus for yourself and your friends it takes any pressure off to drive and if you pay for it in advance you also know you don’t have to worry about finding the money at the end of the night! Nominate a designated driver and make sure they stick to zero alcohol. Remember it is distracting and potentially dangerous having drunk passengers when you are an inexperienced driver; play the game and behave. As the driver if your friends can’t behave: don’t drive them

     

  • Don’t succumb to peer pressure; stick to your guns if you are the driver. Don’t try to guess how may drinks will be safe, you are playing Russian roulette not only with your licence but potentially with your life

     

  • Be careful of the ‘morning after.’ The only cure for ‘being drunk’ is time, alcohol will take hours to leave your system so after a late night you may not be fit to drive all day. If you have a late night make sure you won’t be behind the wheel tomorrow

Richard said: “The consequences of drinking and driving can be tragic. It may be that your ability to drive is affected even if you are below the legal limit, if you need to drive the safest way is a no drinking policy.  We all know of someone who had ‘one for the road’, the lucky ones escaped with just a driving ban.”

 

ENDS

Notes to editors:

  1. Richard Gladman is IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards.
  2. IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.

To find out more about IAM RoadSmart products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com

To find out the name of your own local IAM RoadSmart group please visit: https://wwwiamroadsmart.com/local-groups

Media contacts:

Further information from:

IAM RoadSmart press office – 020 8996 9777 

press.office@iam.org.uk / www.iamroadsmart.com

ISDN broadcast lines available

Follow us:

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/IAMRoadSmart

On Twitter: @IAMRoadSmart   

ENDS ALL

 

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