Ring in the New Year by being Drinkaware

With 2022 ending,  Drinkaware, the national, independent charity working to prevent and reduce alcohol misuse, wants to remind the public about the dangers of drink driving and provide advice on how to stay safe while we ring in the New Year.

87% of the public agree that any amount of alcohol impairs your ability to drive*, and over 141,000 people have visited Drinkaware’s drink-driving webpage on drinkaware.ie this year alone.   

Throughout the year, Unfortunately, 159 lives have been lost on Irish roads this year, due to speeding, collisions, drink/drug driving, careless & wreck less driving. This is an increase of 23 lives compared to the same period in 2021**. This trend of accidents and fatal injuries must be broken. 

To assist the government’s Road Safety Strategy to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 50% over the next decade***, Drinkaware urges the public to get the facts before celebrating this New Year.

Know the facts:   

• It takes at least one hour to process one standard drink 
• Examples of a standard drink are, half a pint of beer, 100ml glass of wine, or a standard measure of spirits.  
• The time starts from when the last drink is finished.  For example, if a person finished 3 pints of beer at midnight, they will have consumed 6 standard drinks, this means they need 6 hours from midnight when they stopped drinking before their body will have processed the alcohol and they should not get behind the wheel of a car until 6am at the earliest 
• Many things such as your weight, age, gender, metabolism, mood, whether you’ve eaten etc, can further delay the processing time. 
• 1 hour per standard drink is a guideline only. 
• Tiredness-related collisions are three times more likely to be fatal or result in a serious injury.

If you’re planning on having a drink when you’re out:

• Leave the car at home  
• Plan ahead if visiting a place, you haven’t been before, make sure there are alternative options such as buses, taxis or trains 
• Switch to an alcohol alternative to ensure that you are safe to drive, don’t take any unnecessary risks
• If visiting a rural area call the restaurant or pub ahead of time to see if shuttle services are available 
• If staying in a hotel/B&B check with the staff for options in taking you to and from places 

CEO of Drinkaware, Sheena Horgan, comments:

“We know that the Irish public have the best of intentions and want to do the right thing. The massive increase of 75% in visits to the Drinkaware drink driving webpage this year clearly shows that people want to know the facts and to keep their families and communities safe.

“The tragic loss of life on Irish roads this year is a trend we can all help to break by acting on the factual information provided and following the RSA and An Garda Síochána’s advice.

“Ahead of the New Year, I invite everyone to avail of free Drinkaware resources, such as our Drinks Calculator and our drink driving webpage for more information. Let’s make this New Years a safe, fun and enjoyable time for all.”