Campaign aims to save Christmas for all drivers

Dec. 8, 2014 - PRLog -- A new regional road safety campaign is launching to ask if Christmas could be cancelled because of drink driving.

Road Respect will be launching What If Christmas Was Cancelled to keep people safe over the holiday season.  Launching with a video campaign and event in Market Square in Sunderland, the campaign will focus on the fallout if Santa was knocked over by a drunk driver.

The video includes a news broadcast about a cancelled Christmas and follows the events of Christmas morning.  Driver’s will also be encouraged to take part in a quiz to see if they are on Santa’s nice or naughty list, either online or at the event.  The event in Sunderland will include a grotto with Santa’s telling of drivers who may wish to have have a drink and drive.

Statistics from the region show that over the last 5 years, 23 people were involved in fatal or serious injury collisions where alcohol was deemed the cause.  Drink driving accounts for 15% of driving fatalities in December, with males the highest at risk group, but women also drinking and driving.  Four out of 10 collisions the drunk driver was inured, however, tragically, one-third involved injury or death of the person in the other vehicle.

Jeremy Forsberg from Road Respect said, “Every year Christmas’s are cancelled because of a drink driver, so we used Santa as the trigger for the question What if Christmas was Cancelled because of a drink?  It’s a year round problem, but this time of year many people will be having a good time at staff parties and with family.  However, even one drink is enough to cancel a Christmas due to arrest, injury or death.  We just want people to think about the consequences.  ”

Road Respect are encouraging the public to take part by sharing the video and a call to action by using #dontcancelxmas.  The campaign hopes that drivers will think twice about drinking and driving and challenge friends and family to do the same.  The campaign will be publishing facts about limits including how one drink could put you over the limit or to warn those about the morning after.

Jeremy Forsberg added, “It’s up to all of us to save Christmas by challenging this idiotic and dangerous behaviour.  If you’re out, just don’t have a drink; if you had a heavy night, don’t drive the next morning.  Tell your friends and family, don’t cancel christmas because of a drink.”

Ends

Note to editors:

The Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative consists of Gateshead Council, Newcastle Council, Northumberland Council, South Tyneside Council, North Tyneside Council, Sunderland Council, Northumbria Police, Newcastle University, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Services, Her Majesty’s Court Service and the Highways Agency.

Road Respect is the campaign run by the NSRI to educate drivers about the dangers of speeding and anti-social behaviour on the roads and to change driving culture of North East drivers.  Established in 2006, the campaign has 48% recognition in Northumbria for over 16s and 1 in 2 drivers who have seen campaign messages say it has had a positive impact on their driving behaviour.


Stats

Over the five year period 2009 to 2013, there have been 154 people injured in December collisions that involved a suspected drink driver in the North East.  131 of these people were slightly injured, 19 were seriously injured, and 4 were killed.

These casualties account for the following percentages of total injuries in December:

5% of total injuries

4% of slight injuries

7% of serious injuries

15% of fatalities

The two worst days for injuries are the 4^th and 5^th of December, which have together seen 1 fatal, 1 serious and 21 slight casualties over the 5 years.

On Christmas Day itself, there have been 2 serious and 6 slight injuries over the period.  Also, given that Christmas Day tends to see the lowest casualty numbers in December (and the rest of the year), it also sees the highest percentages of drink drive casualties in the month (and the second highest in the year after New Year’s Day)

Drink Drive casualties account for 18% of total injuries on Christmas Day, 15% of slight and 40% of serious casualties.

On New Year’s Day, drink drive casualties account for 25% of total injuries, 25% of slight and 29% of serious casualties.

Casualties in December have almost halved over the five years from 40 in 2009 to 23 in 2013, a reduction of 43%.

Males are much more at risk than females of becoming involved in a drink drive collision in December, both as the suspected drink driver, and the person who was injured

85% of drivers and riders who were either suspected of driving or riding their vehicle while impaired by alcohol, or failed or refused a breathalyser test were male (85 out of 100)

71% of people injured in a collision with a suspected drink driver were male (110 out of 154)

Younger people were more likely to be both involved and injured in collisions with drink drivers in December than other age groups, with around two thirds of both suspected drink drivers (66%), and casualties from collisions with drink drivers (64%) being aged between 17 and 34.

Most of the people injured in a collision with a suspected drink driver in December were not the driver themselves.

42% of people injured were the drink driver

18% of injuries were the passenger of a drink driver

4% were pedestrians hit by the drunk driver

The remaining 36% were drivers, riders or passengers in other vehicles that were involved in a collision with the drunk driver

8% of suspected drink drivers were involved in collisions whilst either commuting or on a journey as part of work, although most casualties (51%) occurred in the six hours between 22:00 and 03:59.

Included below is a breakdown of drink drive casualties in December for each local authority area:

The total across the North East is 4 fatal, 19 serious, and 131 slight injuries.

Estimates of the value of preventing road user casualties calculated by the Department for Transport allow us to theorise that if all casualties from collisions involving a drink driver in December had been prevented over the last five years, this could have saved the North East’s economy around £12.7 million, which is an average of two and a half million pounds per year.

Press Contact:

Jeremy Forsberg

Navada Group on behalf of the Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative

T: 07525845042

E: jeremy@navadagroup.com