What works for you if you want to get away with drinking and driving?

The answer is that NOTHING speeds up alcohol elimination from the body.

And the plain fact is that though the legal limit for driving is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, ANY amount of alcohol will affect your judgement, turning you and your car into a lethal weapon which could wreck innocent lives.

Many motorists believe they are safe to drive if they are below the legal limit. THEY ARE WRONG.

Even one drink will have an affect on your judgement . . .

Starting with your assessment of whether or not you should have another drink.

You may not be able to judge speed and distance accurately.

Your ability to react may be severely affected, which will increase your stopping distance.

Your judgement of risk may be affected and you may have a tendency to be overconfident and put yourself in danger.

The only safe course is not to drink and drink - get a taxi and remember to book one early, especially for the high-demand party nights like New Year's Eve.

The real fight against drinking and driving started 30 years ago when the 1967 Road Safety Act introduced a legal limit for drivers enforced by the use of the breathalyser in roadside screenings.

Although this initially led to a reduction in drink-drive accidents, the proportion of crashes involving alcohol soon rose as drivers found ways to avoid being stopped and breathalysed.

So in 1976, it was decided that the police needed the weight of public opinion behind them. A massive advertising campaign was launched to persuade people of the dangers - and unacceptability - of drinking and driving.

There has been a campaign every year since and research shows that attitudes have changed dramatically over the past two decades: 95 per cent of respondents rated drinking and driving as second only to murder.

But the perception remains that drink-drivers involved in accidents are 'legless', having consumed vast amounts of alcohol, when the fact is that even one drink will affect your driving. And contrary to popular mythology, this affect is always for the worse: people who believe they drive better after a couple of pints are fibbing or deluding themselves.

And if you are still not convinced that your motto this year should be 'None for the Road', here are a few sobering statistics:

- 540 people were killed in accidents caused by a driver or rider over the legal limit in 1996;

- at twice the legal limit you are 50 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident;

- if you do cause someone's death by driving under the influence you could face 10 years' imprisonment and at least a two-year driving ban;

- and how are you going to live with the knowledge that your irresponsibility has caused death, injury or severe distress to innocent people?

So don't take a chance; take a taxi.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.