Too many youngsters ignore drink drive warnings
Almost one in five young people got into a car this Christmas believing the driver was over the limit, according to a new report.
An online survey of 1000 Facebook users asked participants to say if they had travelled in a car driven by someone they thought was over the drink-drive limit this Christmas.
17% of 18 to 24 year olds said yes, while eight per cent of 25 to 49 year olds admitted to the same thing.
The RAC Foundation is calling for targeted advertising aimed at persuading people not to get into a car if they doubt the driver’s fitness to drive.
While young adults were most likely to have been driven by a drunk driver, one in eight 13 - 17 year olds had also been put at risk, the RAC Foundation study found.
Though men outnumbered women in each age category, younger women were far more likely to have been driven by a drunk-driver than older women - 85% of the women who had got into a car driven by someone over the limit were under 25.
Describing the results as ‘extremely worrying’, Sheila Rainger, acting director, said: ‘It is truly shocking that one in five young people is prepared to play Russian roulette by getting into a car with a drunk driver.
'New thinking is needed, targeting passengers as well as drivers, to ensure that drink-driving remains socially unacceptable and to ensure that passengers, especially younger women, have the confidence to turn down what could be their last lift.’