New research shows that 44 percent of drivers would get behind the wheel before 11am, despite drinking five large glasses of wine or pints of medium-strong beer the night before.
This comes as millions of people prepare to make a ‘Christmas bubble’ over the festive period.
If you do not live in a Tier 4 area, you may see a maximum of two other households on Christmas Day. You cannot see anyone from a Tier 4 area.
People living in a Tier 4 area cannot meet other people indoors, unless they ordinarily live with them.
The research shows that a fifth (22 percent) of the 2,000 people surveyed by OnePoll would drive before 9am after Christmas drinks the previous evening. Just one in six (17 percent) said they’d drive at noon, the time they are likely to be completely clear of alcohol if they stopped drinking at 1am.
Hunter Abbott, managing director of AlcoSense, the company behind the new research, said: “Even a small amount of alcohol slows reaction time, inhibits judgement and reduces concentration – increasing the likelihood of an accident.
“Whilst not breaking the law, you’re 13 times more likely to have a fatal crash if you’re at (but not over) the English drink-drive limit”.
Sobering up myths
There are strict alcohol limits for drivers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with even stricter limits in Scotland:
- Micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath: England (35), Scotland (22)
- Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood: England (80), Scotland (50)
- Milligrammes per 100 millilitres of urine: England (107), Scotland (67)
Drivers are twice as likely to be breath-tested in December than in any other month. In December 2019, nearly 49,000 motorists were stopped on suspicion of drink-driving. The average for the other 11 months across England and Wales was 23,043.
People should not believe the myths about sobering up. Nearly half (49 percent) of those surveyed believe a good night’s sleep is one of the best ways to sober up before driving, followed by a hearty breakfast (40 percent) and a strong black coffee (24 percent).
“It takes about an hour to break down one unit of alcohol, and there’s nothing you can do to speed up the rate it leaves your system,” added Mr Abbott.
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