During the festive season, several organisations strongly campaign for moderation and prudence especially since more alcohol is consumed.
The Sense Group (TSG) is building on last year’s message: choose a leader to drive you home safely.
The campaign urges friends to take it in turns not to drink alcohol and drive the rest of the group safely back home.
The group is making use of an animated electronic sequence of an intoxicated Santa Claus trying to land his sleigh focusing on the message for the festive season that drinking and driving do not mix.
If Santa crashes, he will send a message that next time he will let Rudolph drive.
The game forms part of TSG’s campaign urging friends to take it in turns to choose one person who will not drink, and then drive the rest of the group safely home.
This purpose of the e-card is to create awareness about the risks and danger of driving under the influence of alcohol, particularly during this festive season and can be accessed on www.thesensegroup.org/xmas.
TSG chief executive Joe Farrugia pointed out that it is the third Christmas e-card issued by TSG to help raise awareness about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol.
“The e-card promotes TSG’s campaign to choose a designated driver who will not drink alcohol, so that he or she can drive the rest of the group safely back home,” he said.
Earlier this year, TSG spoke out against open bar parties and said that it will stop sponsoring similar events.
“The decision to stop sponsorship of open bar events is consistent with the stand that TSG has taken over the years to minimise abuse of alcoholic beverages. We believe that beer, wines and spirits are products that are pleasurable and contribute to societal wellbeing if consumed responsibly by people above the minimum drinking age,” said Mr Farrugia.
He pointed out that open bar events which offer unlimited number of drinks at a prepaid price can be an invitation to young people to binge, and that goes against TSG’s principles.
However, Mr Farrugia said it is still possible for open bar parties to be organised.
“Organisers may still source alcoholic beverages through parallel importers or else through foreign intermediaries,” he said. “However, we believe that this initiative will have an impact on the way these events are organised and will also raise more awareness on the need to celebrate responsibly.”
Government agency against alcohol and abuse, Sedqa, is extending its multi-media campaign related to alcohol abuse, emphasising responsibility especially in the presence of children.
The campaign, entitled Ir-Responsabbilta’ hija taghna lkoll” (“It is our responsibility”), builds upon a campaign which began in June.
The campaign is divided into two main phases. The first is aimed at parents in the form of a television advert emphasising the fact that children are learning from their parents’ behaviour all the time.
The advert shows a parent whose actions are copied by his young daughter, reminding parents that their behaviour is a great influence on how their children act.
However, the second phase of the campaign is aimed at young people and wants to create awareness about sensible drinking.
Three radio adverts advise young people to “enjoy life…enjoy life and whatever you do, just know your limits. Be sensible to yourself and towards others”.
Furthermore, a spokesperson added, Sedqa will not sponsor any end-of-year parties and get-togethers during the festive season.
This year, the Health Promotion Department are building up on last year’s campaign while using last year’s poster.
The poster shows a boy lying face down in the road on a broken windshield surrounded by blood and broken bottles.
Principal Health Promotion Officer Maryanne Massa explained that this poster aims to pass on the message that drink-driving can be fatal and that although the approach can be seen as harsh, it is important for people to understand that drink-driving is extremely dangerous.
Part of the Health Promotion Unit’s campaign is to elect a designate driver. “This person will not drink throughout the evening and has the responsibility to take his/her friends safely back home.”
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Legal limits in other countries
In the UK, the legal limit is 35milligrams of alcohol in 100millilitres of breath, or 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, and 107mg of alcohol in 100ml of urine.
However, this is not enough and a number of NGOs are campaigning to introduce a new set of measures including cutting the drink-drive limit from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
Similar campaigns are organised in other countries.
In Ireland, the local authorities are sending out a clear message. If people are caught drinking and driving over the festive season by the police, they will lose their driving licence. One in every five deaths on Northern Ireland’s roads is down to drivers who have taken alcohol or drugs. Irish police are taking a tougher attitude towards drink and are clearly informing the public through the media.
The majority of people do not drink and drive but the authorities are sending out a very clear message to the irresponsible minority who continue to do so. In Malta, the breathalyser law stipulates a maximum limit of 80 mg per 100 ml of blood.
The Alcohol By Volume percentage (ABV%) alcohol intake can be lowered by choosing lower ABV% drinks. Lagers contain 4.7 ABV% upwards while other beers contain 3.7 ABV% or less.
The number of units in a drink may be deceptive. It varies according to the volume of drink and the ABV.
To calculate the numbers of units in a drink multiply the volume of drink in ml by the ABV% and divide by 1000. For a pint of lager of ABV 4.7 per cent: 566ml X 4.7 divided by 1000 is equal to 2.35 units of drink.
It takes the liver one hour to consume one unit of alcohol.
For a person weighing 70 kg, one unit of drink raises the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) by 15mg per 100ml of blood.
For females and people with less body weight it is significantly more than 15mg per 100ml of blood.
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Facts about drink-driving
Safe driving requires that the driver is able to pay attention to a number of things at once and that he/she is able to react quickly enough in case the unexpected happens.
A driver needs to be mentally alert and have responsive reflexes. In case of an accident, the ability to react immediately can save lives.
Impairment of any of these driving abilities can increase the risk of having an accident.
A person driving under alcohol can take longer to react especially in emergency situations. It is harder to judge speed and distance, and the reduced ability to think clearly that can make it difficult to perform the multiple tasks required to drive safely.
Alcohol tends to make a person feel more confident, leading to greater risk taking.
If the drink makes the person too relaxed, the driver may fall asleep at the wheel.
Alcohol may alter the experience of reality to the extent that the driver will be unable to cope with a new situation.
The driver under influence of alcohol is also unaware of the extent to which driving skills are impaired.
Alcohol takes effect quickly and wears off slowly. It is quickly absorbed in the bloodstream, taking effect in the brain and slowing down responses.
A person who has been drinking during the day, but feels sober in the evening, could still have a high concentration of alcohol in the blood.
Just one more drink may be enough to bring the person over the legal limit. For this reason, what counts is not how much a person has drunk but the total amount.
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Drink-driving
Drinking water does not reduce the alcohol content of the drink. Water and soft drinks dilute the alcohol, but if drunk in large quantities does not reduce the alcohol content of the drink.
Drinking slowly does not mean you will not get drunk. The total amount of alcohol is not affected by how often you drink. A person who is drinking cannot judge the alcohol intake.
Stopping alcohol consumption hours before driving does not mean you can drive.
Alcohol takes time to be absorbed in the system and even though a person feels sober, their reflexes might still be too slow to be safe.
Eating does slow down the absorption of alcohol. However this means it remains in the system for a longer period.
Black coffee does not neutralise the effects of alcohol consumed.
A cold shower may wake you up after you have been drinking but your reactions are still too slow to drive.
Sleeping after drinking will not eliminate the alcohol from the system.
The body’s metabolism slows down, and the process takes longer.
Any amount of alcohol impairs one’s ability to judge distances, speed and presence of mind when driving. Alcohol slows down reflexes even though the person might not feel this.
It is very important for drivers to set their limits to very low alcoholic unit consumption if they know they have to drive.
If not, be safe and call a taxi or a friend to pick you up.