Drive safe

Drive safe

Dear Residents,

With Christmas right around the corner, we would like to encourage all our residents to remember the danger of drink driving and the importance of winter road safety. We have some advice for you to keep in mind...

While you’re out enjoying festivities, you may have the temptation to risk a drink or two, and then get behind the wheel. However, our best and safest advice to you this Christmas, and all throughout the year, is to avoid alcohol completely if you have to drive. It is not just yourself you are putting in danger, but other people on the road too. Some important points to remember:

Drinking alcohol slows down your reactions and impairs judgement, making your driving unsafe and putting you, and others, at greater risk of a collision.

If you are out drinking, there could still be enough alcohol in your system the next morning to mean you’re over the limit, and not safe to drive. It takes approximately one hour for your body to process one unit of alcohol.

If driving or attempting to drive while above the legal limit or unfit through drink you may get: 6 months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, a driving ban for at least 1 year (3 years if convicted twice in 10 years).

It’s impossible to work out how many units of alcohol will put you over the limit. That’s because it varies from person to person, depending on your weight, age, sex and metabolism, the type and amount of alcohol you’re drinking, what you’ve eaten recently, your stress levels at the time.

The same advice is given to other road users; cyclists and motorcyclists. Risking an alcoholic drink and then riding home, not only puts yourself in danger, it’s a danger for other road users too.

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Message Sent By
Jason Amplett
(West Mercia Police, Police Community Support Officer, Shrewsbury, shropshire, Harlescott and Sundorne)