National Road Safety Week 2009 - Not a Drop, Not a Drag
Date:
November 2009
RED Driving School supports Brake, the road safety charity
Given that there have been so many awareness-raising campaigns about the dangers of drink driving, it is a scandal that some people still drink and drive, both after drinking and also the morning after drinking, and the deaths continue.
It is equally scandalous that some drivers drive after taking illegal drugs. Illegal drugs can stay in your system for weeks or even months - it just isn’t possible to have driving and illegal drugs in your life at the same time.
In Road Safety Week 09, Brake is calling on all drivers to commit to not drink even a drop of alcohol before driving, nor take even a drag on a joint or any other illegal drug.
Here are the facts about drink and drug driving.
At least 15,935 people in the UK were killed or hurt by drink and drug-drivers in 2007. That’s:
• 1,328 people every month
• 306 people every week
• 44 people every day
• 2 people every hour
In fact, one in six deaths on our roads are caused by drivers over the legal alcohol limit.
In the UK, 478 people were killed by drivers over the drink-drive limit in 2007.
Although accurate drug-driving figures aren’t available, research by TRL, the Transport Research Laboratory, suggests that similar numbers of deaths may be due to illegal drug drivers.
Researchers at TRL found that 17% of drivers who die in road crashes (almost one in five) have traces of illegal drugs in their system that may have affected their driving.
TRL also found that almost 6% of drivers (one in 17 drivers) who die in road crashes have traces of medicinal drugs that may have affected their driving.
If you kill someone after drink or drug driving, you could go to prison for 14 years for the offence of causing death by careless driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Even if you don’t kill someone but are caught, you could face six months in prison, a one year ban and a £5,000 fine.
And if you think you won’t get caught, think again. More than half a million breath tests for alcohol are carried out each year and the police can test you for drugs at the roadside and in again at the station. Some drugs can still be traced in your system more then a month after you took them, depending on various factors.
Brake’s recommended three-steps to avoid the menace of drink drug driving:
1. Drivers: Not a Drop, Not a Drag
Road Safety Week is the ideal time to make a personal commitment: if you’re driving, don’t risk even a drop of alcohol or a drag of a joint or any other illegal drug
2. Passengers: plan ahead
If you know you’ll be drinking, plan your journey home - and have a ‘plan B’
3. Everyone: stop deaths, shop drink and drug drivers. Brake is challenging everyone to take responsibility for stopping drink and drug driving
Visit Brake's website for more facts about drink and drug driving.