How do you fancy a 12 month hangover, a pint before driving home, will cost your licence, your job, a criminal record, a completely different lifestyle, higher car insurance and real trouble.

If you thought "I only had a couple – I thought I’d be okay" and choose to drive while und

er the influence of alcoholic drink, you will be taking the first steps to have a completely bad taste for alcoholic drink for life.

The Christmas and New Year parties are coming up soon, and you must adhere to the rules to prevent more lives being lost. Every year the dangers of Drink Driving are hammered home by all media, and the subsequent penalties if you ignore the sound advise.

People still seem to think it is safe to have a couple of drinks prior to driving home. Stronger drinks and drinking out of bottles only make the situation worse. We need to reduce the number of drink/drive related road accidents and possible fatalities. You will get little sympathy after the event, let alone destroying someone's family, you will face a rough future, even if you are fortunate enough not to injure or kill anyone, a conviction for drink driving can result in the driver losing his or her job, quite apart from the tough penalties handed down by the courts.

Consequences of a drink drive conviction may include:

A mandatory disqualification for at least a year.
A possible prison sentence and a fine of up to £5000
Possible job loss - particularly if employment is dependent on a driving licence -- 15 per cent of those convicted are made redundant. Even if a person doesn't need to drive for their job but has a company car then they will almost certainly lose it, too
Loss of independence and increased reliance on public transport
An increase in insurance premiums by up to five times the original amount, after a drink drive ban
An endorsement on the licence for 11 years -- even when the disqualification period is over it may be difficult to hire a car for up to ten years.

The only truly safe method is to stick to soft drinks, nominate a non-drinking driver or arrange a taxi or other transport in advance of the event."

If you want to enjoy the festive period, You don't need to mix drinking and driving
At least eighty people will have a car-less New Year More..

Book a Taxi
Use Public Transport
Stay Overnight
Drink soft Drinks until you get home. You will not look silly, but you will if you get caught drink driving.
Arrange for someone who is not drinking to drive - you can take it in turns.
Some pubs are offering free drinks for the driver, ask...