Research conducted by Social Research Associates on behalf of Direct Line Car Insurance and the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund suggests that millions of women in the UK regularly consume alcohol and take to the roads – around half admitting they’re baffled when it comes to what they can legally drink and drive before getting behind the wheel.
The results of the in-depth study highlights the growing proportion of all drink-driving convictions received by women, which has risen from 8% in 1998 to 17% in 2012. 475 respondents were interviewed directly face-to-face or online during the spring of 2013.
Taking account of mileage driven, the research also shows women are proportionately more likely to be over the legal limit as drivers than men from the age of 30.
Feeling physically ‘OK to drive’ (59%) and the belief that they can just ‘drive carefully’ (31%) are the main explanations women give as to why they’ve driven whilst over the legal limit.
17% felt they had no alternative other than to drink and drive, often due to ‘family emergencies’. A further 14% say they drove whilst over the limit because they thought there was little risk of being caught.
In almost all cases, respondents felt that they were personally able to drink more alcohol than the ‘average woman’ could before they were over the legal limit.
This article was taken from the press release ‘ONE IN SIX WOMEN DRIVERS ADMIT TO DRINK DRIVING WHILST OVER THE LIMIT’. Click here for the report ‘Drinking among British Women and its impact on their pedestrian and driving activities: Women and Alcohol‘.