Drink and drug driving at a shocking high

A survey among young people designed to discover the extent of drink and drug driving among young people has yielded some shocking results. Commissioned by safety charity Brake to highlight the national Road Safety Week that began yesterday (23rd November 2009), the report has uncovered the startling statistic that one in six young drivers admits to driving under the influence.

One in 15 admits to drug driving, and almost one in four has been a passenger while knowing the driver is either drunk or high. Even more worryingly, the vast majority of those who admit to drug driving (84%) have been drinking alcohol at the same time. Part of the problem is that young people are seemingly uneducated about the effects of drug and alcohol consumption - and particularly about the length of time it lasts. According to Brake, about half of those surveyed underestimated the length of time it takes for drink or drugs to wear off.

Unsurprisingly, the survey also reveals that far more of those who admit to driving while intoxicated have crashed than those who stay clean behind the wheel - four in ten as opposed to one in ten.

Road Safety Week 2009 is operating under the slogan 'not a drop, not a drag' to hammer the message home to young drivers that any drug or alcohol use, no matter how small, can have consequences. Its website (www.roadsafetyweek.org) highlights some of the tragic realities of drink and drug driving - cases like that of 18-year-old Dom Storey from Birmingham, who was killed when the car he was in crashed after a pub night out. The driver, his friend, was both drunk and high on cannabis.

Mark Nichol