In the UK the legal limit for alcohol is 80 milligrammes (mg) of alcohol in 100 millilitres (ml) of blood or 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. Without a breath test there is no way to tell accurately how much over or under the drink-drive limit you are. There are many factors that affect the alcohol limit – your weight, sex, age and the type of alcohol you have consumed are just a few.

Did you know that a lot of EU countries have much lower drink drive alcohol limits than the UK? The french, greek, austrian, spanish and portuguese limit is 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. In Norway, Poland and Sweden the limit is 20mg and in Hungary, Estonia, Romania and the Czech Republic the limit it 0mg in 100ml of blood.

Alcoholic drink not only adversely affects your judgement and reactions immediately but can affect your ability to drive for hours afterwards. You may feel perfectly fine to drive but you could still be over the alcohol limit even during the morning after a period of drinking.

If a person is in charge of a motor vehicle on the road, in a public place or driving/attempting to drive, they can be asked to produce a breath sample by a Police Officer. Failure to do so can result in an arrest.

If found guilty of a drink driving offence, the minimum sentencethey can expect is a 12 month driving ban. If there is a fatal collision and the driver is found to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time, this can be followed by a spell in prison.

A DES is the designated driver. If you live in a rural area, take it in turns with your friends to be DES. Look after your DES! If you are going out, DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE, use your DES! (www.dft.gov.uk/THINK!)

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