Drunken Dodgems: the morning after the night before – one in three have driven even though they thought they were still drunk

Drunken Dodgems: the morning after the night before – one in three have driven even though they thought they were still drunk

· Saturday 19th December at 9.23am set to be the most dangerous time on the road over the festive period, with the highest number taking to the road potentially over the drink drive limit after their Christmas party
· More than a quarter will get behind the wheel before 10am
· More than two-thirds will pre-load with alcohol and a quarter will have more than six alcoholic drinks at their Christmas party

Almost one in three Brits (29.25%) have admitted to driving the morning after when they believed they may still be over the drink drive limit from the night before, according to alarming new study out today.

The research, commissioned by Honda (UK) and AlcoSense Personal Breathalysers, investigated attitudes towards drinking and driving over the festive period discovering that one in four (27.7%) Christmas party-goers predict that they will have six or more alcoholic drinks - with half of this group planning on knocking back eight or more - putting them at real risk of being over the limit the following day. 

It also found almost two thirds (62.75%) intend to ‘pre-load’ with one or more drinks before arriving at the party.

With such a big night planned by so many, perhaps unsurprisingly more than a third (38.35%) believe they could be over the drink-drive limit the morning after their Christmas party, yet more than one in four people (26.25%) aim to drive before 10am the following day.

Furthermore, despite being the most aware of the morning after drink drive risk (44.88%), the 25-34 year old age group are most likely to get behind the wheel before 9am the following morning.

Worryingly, more than one in five (21.03%) admitting that they would do so, even if they suspected they were over the drink drive limit.

The research goes on to reveal Saturday December 19th at 9.23am to be the most dangerous time to be on the roads over the festive period. With the previous day set to be the most popular for Christmas parties (6.3%), that Saturday will potentially see the highest number of drivers take to the roads over the legal drink drive limit from the night before.

The research was commissioned by Honda (UK) and AlcoSense Personal Breathalysers to mark the launch of a new and unique partnership between the two brands. The partnership aims to raise awareness of the dangers of driving the morning after drinking to ensure safer UK roads this Christmas and beyond, with AlcoSense Personal Breathalysers being given away free of charge in Honda’s UK dealerships throughout the festive period.

Philip Crossman, Managing Director of Honda (UK) comments: “Christmas is all about having fun and while the vast majority of party-goers won’t risk it the morning after, a small percentage will. And that’s enough to make a difference. We simply want people to be safe on the roads this Christmas as many just don’t consider the effects of alcohol still in their system the morning after; our partnership with AlcoSense Personal Breathalysers sets out to raise awareness of the risk and make people think twice before getting behind the wheel, especially after their Christmas party.”

Hunter Abbott, Managing Director of AlcoSense Personal Breathalysers comments: “For the majority of people four pints or four large glasses of wine could be enough to still have alcohol in your system the morning after the night before. These statistics show there’s still a long way to go with awareness about the risks of morning after drink driving and hopefully the partnership between Honda and AlcoSense will help bridge that gap. To claim your free AlcoSense breathalyser, just go to your local Honda dealership and ask for one – it’s that simple. All we ask in return is that you use it the morning after your next big night.”

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Notes to Editors
One breathalyser per person given away free of charge at Honda’s UK retail dealerships, with a maximum of 50 available at each location.

About Honda
Honda (UK) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honda (Japan).
One of the top 20 brands in the world, Honda manufacturers a broad product range encompassing cars, motorcycles, power equipment (including marine, energy, lawn and garden and ATV) and aviation and was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura, in 1986.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year.
Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. Honda has also ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet, which began production in 2012.
Honda has over 55 years of World Championship Racing. Today, Honda is an active participant in Formula One, motorcycle, touring car and ATV racing and draws upon its proud racing heritage in every aspect of business.

About AlcoSense Personal Breathalysers
AlcoSense™ is a multi-award-winning manufacturer and distributor of consumer breathalysers under the AlcoSense brand, targeted at reducing unintentional morning after drink driving.

Working on the same principles as Police breathalysers, AlcoSense detects the concentration of alcohol in your breath enabling the unit to provide an accurate and discreet Blood Alcohol Concentration reading and alert you if you are near to or above any UK drink drive limit, including the new Scottish limit.

There are six models in the AlcoSense range. There are four electronic re-usable breathalysers in the range: AlcoSense Elite retails for £59.99 (winner of What Car? Best Breathalyser under £100 Award); AlcoSense Lite is £39.99 (winner of the What Car? Best Breathalyser under £40 Award); and two newly launched top of the range models the AlcoSense Pro retailing at an introductory price of £129.99 and AlcoSense Ultra retailing at £249.99. Both feature versions of the same fuel cell sensor as used by several Police breathalysers and patented new features such as BlowCoach for dramatically improved ease of use and Any Limit, Anywhere automatic setup which sets the breathalyser to local legislation for any country at the touch of a button.

AlcoSense also has two models of disposable single use chemical breathalysers retailing for £2.99 per tester, AlcoSense Singles, a single use disposal breathalyser for the UK and Irish drink drive limits; and the AlcoSense Singles NF for use in France where it is now a legal requirement for drivers to carry a breathalyser in their car.

AlcoSense products are available nationwide from Halfords and most Boots stores, and online at www.alcosense.co.uk. For more information please call 0800 195 0088.

AlcoSense is a subsidiary of the Now Group UK Ltd.