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Updated: 17/07/2012 11:30 | By motoringresearch.com
One third of festivalgoers drive home drunk
More than one third of people attending festivals drive home from a music event under the influence of alcohol, according to a One Poll survey commissioned by National Express.
The study revealed that 38% of revellers aged between 18 and 34 had driven after attending a large concert event, despite knowing it was dangerous because they were unfit to do so through drinking, had slept too little or had an illegal number of passengers in their vehicle.
Drink driving: cars most likely to be caught speeding
Data showed that 10% admitted drinking too much alone, while it was also found that 11% of attendees would not mind being driven by someone who was unfit to drive.
However, it’s not just wantonly careless partygoers knowingly driving home while drunk in the evening that has boosted statistics. Young people having drunk the night before can still be over the limit the next morning without knowing.
Half of drink-driving arrests made the morning after
Managing director of National Express coach division, Andrew Cleaves:
“Whilst UK festivals themselves have a great safety record, our research has uncovered a worrying number of festivalgoers are putting themselves in serious danger by failing to consider the real risks they are taking when they make some of their travel decisions.
“Perhaps the most concerning findings have been that so many people drive home drunk or still affected by all the partying, (or) will happily jump in a car with someone they don’t know.”
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24Comments
11/07/2012 13:57
Well at least two thirds of the festival goers are decent people. Drink drivers are not, simple as.
If you are willing to put entire families at risk by drinking and driving, or kids walking to school the day after you have over-indulged, you are not worth the air you breathe.
Addition
Noticing I am getting roughly a third of people giving me thumbs down, interesting considering the ratio described above. I doubt any of those who disapprove of my statement have lost friends or family to drunk drivers, please do prove me wrong any of you.
The case I remember that should make drink drivers think most was a person who lost his licence for 18 months for drinking and driving but then got sectioned for his own safety after trying to commit suicide. The victim of his drinking and driving was his girlfriend of some years and mother to his daughter.
As a drunk driver you don't choose who you will kill or if you will, but of course if they could think ahead, or at all, they wouldn't be drink drivers would they?
If you are willing to put entire families at risk by drinking and driving, or kids walking to school the day after you have over-indulged, you are not worth the air you breathe.
Addition
Noticing I am getting roughly a third of people giving me thumbs down, interesting considering the ratio described above. I doubt any of those who disapprove of my statement have lost friends or family to drunk drivers, please do prove me wrong any of you.
The case I remember that should make drink drivers think most was a person who lost his licence for 18 months for drinking and driving but then got sectioned for his own safety after trying to commit suicide. The victim of his drinking and driving was his girlfriend of some years and mother to his daughter.
As a drunk driver you don't choose who you will kill or if you will, but of course if they could think ahead, or at all, they wouldn't be drink drivers would they?
11/07/2012 16:23
Just shows you how selfish and self indulgent young people are.
Roll on the recession - hopefully there will be enough unemployed created to knock some sense into them so they get real. Don't bleat to me about your poor hard done by youngsters. I was raised in the gutter and I fought my way out. I never had a day's unemployment in my life because I spent my time wisely and I worked effing hard from day one. I did not take sickies like most people especially those who deliberately drink and drug themselves then get free treatment on the health service that I have contributed mightily to.. I had three completely different careers in my life because I was prepared to chop and change with the economy and I have been through worse depressions than this and inflation at 20%. So don't give me any sob stories.
12/07/2012 22:24
I read some of the earlier posts with interest and in some cases wonderment at how insensitive,selfish and ignorant some people can be. Let me tell you why...
On 24/07/96 I was driving home from a football match with my two eldest children and a good friend when we were hit head on at high speed by a drunk driver in a Range Rover who gave us no warning or opportunity to avoid him. The result was that my Cavalier folded on impact as he came through us and pirouetted into the bank leaving us in a heap of crumpled,smoking wreckage.3 My son (12 yrs) died instantly, my daughter (10) died in the early hours of the following morning and my friend the following week. They cut me and my friend out of the wreckage and I was off work for four months recuperating. The drunken driver died at the scene getting away with the aftermath he left behind. I should say he was not a youngster but in his early sixties.
I was conscious all the time and can still vividly remember the sound of breaking glass and crushing metal together with the huge rush of air that the impact made.The silence that followed was awful then the commotion as people rushed to help.I would have traded places with any of the youngsters in my car but life is just not like that.The accident didn't just affect our families but whole communities where we lived and worked and deprived us of three vibrant and amazing young people destined for great things I'm sure.
On the anniversary of the accident and birthdays, visiting the churchyard to place flowers at their graves is a ritual that no one should have to experience-it's heartwrenching and very distressing.
Still feel like getting behind the wheel after a drink or two?
The moral of this true story is:-
!.It's not ok or cool to drink and drive or whilst under the influence of drugs.
2.You will kill or maim someone but not normally yourself.
3.You will spend your life reliving and regretting your stupidity.
4.If you can afford a drink, then you can afford a taxi or a bus or walk home.
My son would now be 28, daughter 26 and my friend 34 years old. I wonder what they would look like and be doing today?
Have a safe trip home and think before you drink before you drive.
Thank you for reading.
11/07/2012 20:22
BUT THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT NO ONE DOES WANT TO DO THE RIGHT THING ANYMORE.
YOU DON,T WANT TO DRIVE SENSEIBLY.
YOU DON,T WANT TO HELP ANYONE, ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS LAUGH AT THINGS THAT ARE NOT FUNNY AND ARE NOT CONCERENED WITH THE CORRECT THINGS IN LIFE, YOU MODERN DAY FOLK ARE A JOKE.
YOU ARE SO PARANOID OF DOING THE RIGHT THING, THAT IT SCARES YOU TO DEATH, AND SO RESULT TO TALKING FALSE AND ACTING FALSE AND ONLY JUDGE OTHERS AROUND YOU, BECAUSE THAT IS ALL YOU KNOW HOW TO DO, AND WHAT HAPPENED TO EXCUSE ME AND THANK YOU OR HOLDING A DOOR OPEN FOR SOME ONE, ITS BEYOND YOU PEOPLE TO DAY ALL YOU DO IS WALK AROUND IMPAITENT ALL DAY LONG FULL OF HATERED AND BYILE, SICK OF SEEING IT.
ITS TIME YOU ARRONGANT GITS WERE PUT IN YOUR PLACE AND YOU NEED SHOWING UP FOR WHAT YOU ARE, FALSE ACTING AND FALSE TALKING AND ARROGANT WITH VERY BAD MANNERS SELF DEVELOPED THROUGH YOUR PARANOID MINDS.
YOU DON,T WANT TO DRIVE SENSEIBLY.
YOU DON,T WANT TO HELP ANYONE, ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS LAUGH AT THINGS THAT ARE NOT FUNNY AND ARE NOT CONCERENED WITH THE CORRECT THINGS IN LIFE, YOU MODERN DAY FOLK ARE A JOKE.
YOU ARE SO PARANOID OF DOING THE RIGHT THING, THAT IT SCARES YOU TO DEATH, AND SO RESULT TO TALKING FALSE AND ACTING FALSE AND ONLY JUDGE OTHERS AROUND YOU, BECAUSE THAT IS ALL YOU KNOW HOW TO DO, AND WHAT HAPPENED TO EXCUSE ME AND THANK YOU OR HOLDING A DOOR OPEN FOR SOME ONE, ITS BEYOND YOU PEOPLE TO DAY ALL YOU DO IS WALK AROUND IMPAITENT ALL DAY LONG FULL OF HATERED AND BYILE, SICK OF SEEING IT.
ITS TIME YOU ARRONGANT GITS WERE PUT IN YOUR PLACE AND YOU NEED SHOWING UP FOR WHAT YOU ARE, FALSE ACTING AND FALSE TALKING AND ARROGANT WITH VERY BAD MANNERS SELF DEVELOPED THROUGH YOUR PARANOID MINDS.
11/07/2012 17:52
Wonder why they didn't include all the twits that get high on marijuana and other drugs in this count of those driving home impaired. They are equally dangerous to those on the road as the dim wits that drive drunk.
11/07/2012 20:07
TOO MANY ARE OBSESSED WITH BOOZE AND DRUGS, ITS SENT THEM MAD.
BUT THEY DON,T WAN TO FEEL AS IF THEY DON,T FIT IN WITH THE IN CROWD.
BUT NO ONE REALLY GIVES **** ABOUT THE LEADERS IN THE WORLD ANYMORE AND I DON,T BLAME THEM, THEY HAVE SHOWN THEM SELVES TO BE WHAT WE ALREADY NO THEY ARE.
SO SOD EMMM, AND DRINK UP MY FRIENDS, STOP LISTENING TO MP,S AND LISTEN TO YOUR OWN SOUL, ONLY YOU NO HOW TO LIVE, NOT THEM. WHY THE FAT CATS SIT THERE LIEING DAY IN AND OUT AND DRINKING THEM SELVES STUPID THE RICH ARE THE WORST FOR DRINK AND DRUGS.
ITS ALL ONE BIG FAT LIE.
BUT THEY DON,T WAN TO FEEL AS IF THEY DON,T FIT IN WITH THE IN CROWD.
BUT NO ONE REALLY GIVES **** ABOUT THE LEADERS IN THE WORLD ANYMORE AND I DON,T BLAME THEM, THEY HAVE SHOWN THEM SELVES TO BE WHAT WE ALREADY NO THEY ARE.
SO SOD EMMM, AND DRINK UP MY FRIENDS, STOP LISTENING TO MP,S AND LISTEN TO YOUR OWN SOUL, ONLY YOU NO HOW TO LIVE, NOT THEM. WHY THE FAT CATS SIT THERE LIEING DAY IN AND OUT AND DRINKING THEM SELVES STUPID THE RICH ARE THE WORST FOR DRINK AND DRUGS.
ITS ALL ONE BIG FAT LIE.
11/07/2012 20:09
WHATS THE MATTER WITH CAR PENALTIES.
IS THE BULL**** SPEEDING CAMERA,S NOT WORKING ANYMORE.
I WONDER WHAT WAS REALLY SAID WITH TONY BLAIRS YEARS OF SECRET MEETINGS, IM SICK OF MP,S TOTALLLY.
IS THE BULL**** SPEEDING CAMERA,S NOT WORKING ANYMORE.
I WONDER WHAT WAS REALLY SAID WITH TONY BLAIRS YEARS OF SECRET MEETINGS, IM SICK OF MP,S TOTALLLY.
14/07/2012 16:25
To : Someone, well, there is not a lot that can be said after reading your harrowing post. I am sure you have had everything said to you before, so I will not go on with useless platitudes. I think its a matter of personal discipline, not to drink drive. If my partner and I go out on a friday, or saturday night to a restaraunt, then I do not touch a drop of drink and I wait until we get home before I have my night cap. I do not miss the drink when we go out, because my conscience is clear and I know I am not going to kill any poor soul,because I have drunk too much,and that's a great feeling.
15/07/2012 11:29
To : Chris Williams : I do have a BMW, among my collection of cars, its a five series, and drives like a dream.
14/07/2012 19:04
To Christopher Williams, I would say you drive a quite elderly Volvo, possibly an estate.
14/07/2012 18:31
Someone, good post. It sounds like he was speeding and on the wrong side of the road? His ability to drive would have been impaired by the drink, no doubt about it, but I bet he was an inconsiderate and arrogant driver when he was sober. Range Rovers and 4x4 drivers are always arrogant swines. The sad thing is if he had lived and been sober, the law would have probably let him off.
I was trying to highlight the leniency of punishments for bad driving if you are sober with my earlier posts. There are cases where a killer has been given a small fine, because they were sober. I see women driving too fast every day where I live taking their children to school. It is obviously the most dangerous time to be speeding. They won't be arrested, the police aren't interested, because they are sober. Now, if someone is pulled over for a random spot check and has had say 3 pints and fails the test, they will receive a more severe punishment than a sober driver who has crashed and killed someone. It is possible to have one drink and not go mental. That is why it is legal.
16/07/2012 08:30
One story of a relative of mine likes a drink and has ridden motorbikes for some years now.
Went to where he worked on his motorbike. Finished his shift and stayed behind with a few friends. Decided would stay there for the day so had a couple of drinks expecting the effect to be gone by the time he was riding home.
Unlike me he is no lightweight and can consume alcohol like I do water with very little effect until my bladder would burst.
End of the day he assumed that all alcohol had left his system and felt fine to ride home. Riding along one of the lanes he fell asleep at the bars, something any biker will tell you is not easy. Half a mile back would have been a wall, a few hundred yards ahead was a ditch, he was lucky, the section he drifted into was hedge, so he got a few nasty thorns but no serious damage.
He got off and pushed the bike the remaining 3.5 to 4 miles home, and has never touched a drop when he knew he will be riding or driving a motor vehicle since. He was young at the time, but old enough to learn from a mistake, a skill that has no age barrier.
Lessons he will announce to have been fortunate to have learned safely are
The effects of alcohol last longer than you expect
Being able to handle a drink is not the same as being able to handle a vehicle after one
If you come away from drinking and driving/ riding safe, it was luck, not skill or judgement
Some people have to lose something dear to them to really take notice, others learn from more minor instances, or from others mistakes. Those not in the second group risk being in the first, think first and don't lose out.
Went to where he worked on his motorbike. Finished his shift and stayed behind with a few friends. Decided would stay there for the day so had a couple of drinks expecting the effect to be gone by the time he was riding home.
Unlike me he is no lightweight and can consume alcohol like I do water with very little effect until my bladder would burst.
End of the day he assumed that all alcohol had left his system and felt fine to ride home. Riding along one of the lanes he fell asleep at the bars, something any biker will tell you is not easy. Half a mile back would have been a wall, a few hundred yards ahead was a ditch, he was lucky, the section he drifted into was hedge, so he got a few nasty thorns but no serious damage.
He got off and pushed the bike the remaining 3.5 to 4 miles home, and has never touched a drop when he knew he will be riding or driving a motor vehicle since. He was young at the time, but old enough to learn from a mistake, a skill that has no age barrier.
Lessons he will announce to have been fortunate to have learned safely are
The effects of alcohol last longer than you expect
Being able to handle a drink is not the same as being able to handle a vehicle after one
If you come away from drinking and driving/ riding safe, it was luck, not skill or judgement
Some people have to lose something dear to them to really take notice, others learn from more minor instances, or from others mistakes. Those not in the second group risk being in the first, think first and don't lose out.
11/07/2012 18:10
If you drive sensibly then it should not matter if you are over the limit. The law needs to use some common sense. A sober man can drive more dangerously than a drunk man. Instead of attacking alcohol and the moderate drinker we should be attacking bad behaviour. If someone crashes they should be punished but if they are driving sensibly the police should leave them alone, even if they are a bit over the limit. If I drive back from a restaurant after a drink, I will be under the limit, but if I accidently swallowed a few more, as an experienced driver, I would drive home at about 10 mph to compensate.
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