One in five have travelled with drunk driver in past two years, says survey
One in five of respondents in an AA Motor Insurance Poll carried out this month admitted that they have knowingly taken a lift from a driver they understood to be over the legal blood alcohol level (0.8mg) within the last two years.
The limit is set to drop to 0.2mg for both learners and professional drivers and to 0.5mg for remaining motorists within the next couple of months.
The AA survey, which received more than 14,000 responses, also revealed that an even higher portion of 17-24 year-olds, 26.1%, have accepting a lift from someone they believed to be over the legal limit.
“While as a passenger you may not be breaking the law yourself under these circumstances, you do have a moral responsibility,” said Conor Faughnan, director of Policy, AA Ireland.
“Alcohol is a contributing factor in a third of fatal accidents on our roads and passengers owe it to their own safety and that of other road users not to turn a blind eye or allow convenience to overrule their good sense.
“87% of motorists last year, according to a nationally representative sample, told us they believe drink driving to be extremely shameful. While high in relative terms, this still means that 13% have other ideas which is worrying.”
According to the poll’s findings, 11.6% of 17-24 year-olds also said they had allowed themselves to be driven by someone they suspected of being under the influence of narcotics.
More than a third (35.6%) of those who participated in the AA Motor Insurance poll stated that they had at least once within the last two years gotten into a car with a driver they knew to be nursing a very bad hangover.
A total of 45% also admitted that they had driven “the morning after the night before” whilst still unsure whether their blood alcohol levels had returned to legally permissible levels.
The AA’s study also reveals that 10% more men than women, 49.8% compared to 39.7%, have taken this gamble at some point or another within the last two years.
In the individual comments section of the poll many drivers expressed their frustration at not having the means to determine with certainty when they were safe to drive the day after a nightof drinking. Others vented that a lack of public transport in their area had induced them to run the risk.
On an inter county level, a higher percentage of poll participants in Monaghan than any other county, 30.8%, stated they had been a passenger in a vehicle where they suspected the driver to be over the limit.
After Monaghan, 25.4% and 24.7% of those in Donegal and Clare respectively said the same was true in their case.
A higher portion in Roscommon than anywhere else, 7.6%, said they had allowed themselves to be driven by someone they understood to be high on an illegal drugs.
This was followed by 5.3% in Donegal and 4.9% in Wexford.
The AA Motor Insurance Poll identifies those in Clare (52.4%), Cavan (49.8%) and Limerick (49.8%) as most likely to take a chance and drive while possibly still a little drunk the day after a heavy night’s drinking.
