30 Dec 2018
Posted by Barry Aldworth 
AA Ireland has issued a warning to motorists of the danger of driving the morning after a night out, after a recent survey by the organisation found a significant number of motorists have driven the morning after the night before while unsure of whether they were still over the limit.
According to a recent AA Car Insurance survey of over 3,000 Irish motorists, 13.69% of respondents admitted that on one occasion in the past year they had driven the day after a night out while possibly still over the legal blood-alcohol limit. Meanwhile, a further 8.87% admitted to taking this risk on up to 5 occasions, while 1.47% admitted to doing so on more than 5 occasions in 2018.
With the festive season in mind, the AA is warning those attending New Year’s celebrations to drink responsibly and give consideration to when they may need to drive on the following day so as to avoid potentially still being over the limit the following morning.
“Many of us associate drink-driving with the idea of someone stumbling out of the pub into their car, but there’s more to it than just that act. You have people who did the smart and responsible thing at half 3 in the morning and got a taxi home, but then think they’re ok to drive at half 7 the following morning to make their way into work which just doesn’t make sense,” Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs warned. “If you’ve had a heavy night down the pub then 3 or 4 hours sleep and a coffee isn’t going to magically bring you back under the legal blood alcohol limit. As everyone’s body breaks alcohol down differently the amount of time it takes for you to return to within the legal limit will vary but as a general rule of thumb if you still feel hungover and the head is still pounding then you shouldn’t be getting behind the wheel”
“If you know that you need to drive the following morning after a night out, then it is up to you to modify your behaviour accordingly. Drink sensibly or indeed don’t drink at all, but certainly you should not be taking an approach of ‘how much can I have and still be under the limit?’ as this is a dangerous and risky approach to take.”
The survey also found that almost 1 in 12 drivers have been involved in a near miss or a collision where they knew or suspected that another party involved in the incident was under the influence of alcohol.
When asked if they had ever been involved in a near miss or accident involving a drink-driver, 3.3% of respondents to the AA’s survey reported being involved in at least one such incident in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, a further 3.72% of respondents stated that they had had a run-in with a drink-driver at some point in their driving history but not within the last year.
“The negative impact of alcohol on your ability to drive and your reaction time has been proven beyond all doubt at this stage, and it’s important that we don’t forget that those ill-effects can linger on into the following day even if you think you may be ok to get behind the wheel,” Faughnan added. “By all means ring in the New Year in style, but if you are doing so leave the car keys at home and give yourself plenty of recovery time the following day before you attempt to drive.”
