UK motorists are being warned about driving while over the alcohol limit as the coronavirus lockdown causes home drinking to dramatically increase.
Now it’s suggested there could be more people drink-driving on the roads.
Home drinking in the UK has nearly doubled, with 100 million pints of beer being consumed each week. The problem, we’re told, is people driving early the following morning, to make the supermarket run before essential supplies sell out.
Some drivers aren’t knowingly driving while over the limit, then. Rather, it’s residual units from the night before, which remain when they fire the car up in the morning.
Studies have shown that even a small amount of alcohol in your system can impede reaction times and performance behind the wheel. That also applies to quantities below the legal limit.
Around 20 percent of drink-drive convictions come from those caught in the morning. And around a third of all breath tests following an accident are conducted between 7am and 1pm.
Department for Transport figures indicate a 25 percent jump in drink-drive accident fatalities in the past two years.
“If you consume three pints of beer or three large glasses of wine before retiring at 11pm, you’re unlikely to be totally clear of alcohol when driving to the supermarket for 7am,” said Hunter Abbott, managing director of AlcoSense.
“Even if you’re just at the English/Welsh legal drink-drive limit, research shows you are 13 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than when sober. The only way to be sure that alcohol has completely cleared your system is to use a personal breathalyser.”
“The impact of COVID-19 is worrying enough without the added stress of being banned from driving, or involved in a car crash”.