• Brake and Direct Line urge drivers not to risk their licence for love, as one in five get behind the wheel the morning after a big night out

A new survey from Brake, the road safety charity, and Direct Line has revealed one in five drivers have risked driving the “morning after” a night of heavy drinking, when they may still be over the limit. Almost one in ten (nine per cent) do it at least once a month and one in 20 (five per cent) take the risk on a weekly basis.

With Valentine’s Day falling on a Sunday, many couples may choose to celebrate when they have to work the following day. But if they share a bottle of wine, and maybe a couple of cocktails or beers, it could mean they are still over the limit the next day. If they have to drive to work or use a vehicle for their job they will be both a danger to themselves and other roads users, as well as breaking the law.

The amount of time it takes for the body to break down alcohol depends on many different factors such as age, weight and metabolism but, as a rough guide, it takes around an hour to process a single unit. One drink, however, rarely contains just one unit of alcohol; it will take the body around three hours to break down the alcohol in a large glass of wine or a pint of strong lager.

If someone drives at 8am after they have been drinking until midnight, there is a serious risk they could still have alcohol in their system and not be fit to drive. 12 per cent of people in the study said they would drive at 8am or even earlier.

One in eight drivers who fail a breath test are caught the morning after and more drivers have been caught over the limit after a crash between 6am and lunchtime on a Monday than on any other weekday for the last three years.

Alice Bailey, campaigns officer for Brake, said: “If you drive first thing in the morning after a night of heavy drinking it’s highly likely you’ll still be over the limit. You’ll be a danger to yourself and all other road users and at a much higher risk of crashing. At worst, you could lose your life or take someone else’s. Even if that’s not the case, you could still lose your licence and potentially your livelihood. The advice is simple use public transport, or walk to work if you’ve been out on Sunday night or if you drive for work think about sharing a celebration much earlier in the day. Sleep, food, and caffeine will not sober you up, the only thing that will is time. Don’t let this Valentine’s Day be your last.”

Rob Miles, director of car insurance at Direct Line said: “If you can’t be sure that you won’t be over the drink-drive limit the morning after a few drinks, then don’t risk getting behind the wheel. That said, even if you can legally drive, it’s still better to make alternative travel arrangements, as even just being hungover or tired could have an adverse effect on your attention span and driving ability.”

Advice to drivers:

  • Make sure you have completely got rid of any alcohol from your system before driving. Drinking coffee or water, sleeping or having a shower cannot sober you up. The only thing that will is time
  • Use Brake’s interactive sober up resource to learn more about drink and drug-driving
  • As a rough guide it takes an hour to process each UNIT of alcohol but you should always allow longer and err on the side of caution. Each drink you have may contain many units
  • If you usually drive to work, consider using public transport, walking or taking a taxi to make sure you are not a danger to yourself or any other road users