A Christmas drink-driving campaign will target those caught driving over the legal limit the morning after a drinking session.
Many motorists are unaware that drinking even a relatively modest amount the night before can leave them over the legal drink-drive limit the following morning.
In 2011, more motorists failed roadside breath tests between the hours of 6am and 11am than between 11pm and 1am. And, unfortunately for those caught, the Government is removing the right to request a supplementary blood test, preventing offenders from sobering up whilst being driven to the police station.
The Government has also come under criticism from road safety advocates, following a 3 per cent rise in drink-drive casualties between 2010 and 2011 -- the first increase in more than thirty years.
Suzette Davenport, the roads policing lead for The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said: "Drivers need to be aware that regardless of the time of day they are caught, whether they are going to work or taking children to school, they will face the same penalties as someone who has chosen to drink heavily in a pub and driven at night."
This, to our minds is ridiculous. While we don't condone drink-driving, it is unfair that someone who drives home from the pub following a heavy binge is subject to the same penalties as a driver who is unwittingly slightly over the limit the following morning.
There are numerous websites -- such as morning-after.org.uk -- which aim to give you a guide to how much you are allowed to drink the night before to stay sober the following morning; however, everybody processes alcohol differently and the results are not often accurate.
Another option is to buy a breathalyser kit, but no breathalyser -- the police's included -- is 100 per cent accurate: you could blow a negative into a home-testing kit and then blow a positive into the police's breathalyser. Not only does this mean that it is impossible to ascertain whether you are under the drink-drive limit, it also means that you could face a driving ban and a criminal record on the basis of potentially unreliable evidence.
The fact of the matter is that the only way to be sure you're sober in the morning is not to drink the night before.
