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The summer is coming and early indications suggest that after a few years of disappointment we may be in for a hot one. This means the barbeques will be firing, people will be off on holidays, and there should be plenty of garden parties to look forward to. With so much fun and frivolity ahead it's timely that this week police forces across the country are launching their summer drink driving activity; what they call, a "relentless campaign" to crack down on offending drivers.
Officers are being briefed to perform more stop checks than ever before, testing anyone who appears to be under the influence in the hope of disuading intoxicated motorists from getting behind the wheel. Drink driving is less of a problem than in the past, but with 3000 people killed on the roads each year and about 500 of the deaths drink and drug related, it is still a big issue.
The problem is that while every driver understands that drink driving is wrong, there remains uncertainty around how much you can drink and still remain under the limit. Many drivers still believe that they can have a couple of drinks and still legally drive; which in some cases might be true, in others it's certainly not the case.
Compared to Britain, most European countries have very low limits with the general standard in Europe tending to be around 0.5 mg compared to 0.8 mg in the UK. In Norway, Poland and Sweden it is significantly below as drivers must not exceed 0.2 mg. There are also several countries where you can't drink and drive at all. These countries include: Estonia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary and I can't help but think that if this were the case in the UK, there would be less drivers chancing their arm.
I would always recommend that if you're driving, you shouldn't touch a drop of alcohol. Even a small amount of alcohol can affect your ability to drive safely and it's very difficult to second guess whether you are legal or not; partly because the strength of drinks differ so much and partly because every person differs in their tolerance. So choose your designated driver for the evening or better still book a taxi, the fee could be a small price to pay compared to a conviction and fine.
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