It appears that drivers are well aware of the safety problem that drinking and driving presents. Fifty nine per cent of them support the idea of introducing legislation that does not allow drivers to drink any alcohol or to reduce the existing legal alcohol limit. The problem is that those drivers who currently drink and drive are not the ones who are most aware of the safety implications of drinking and driving. Drivers who support measures to reduce drinking and driving tend also to state that they drink very little or not at all.
Another interesting finding was the number of European drivers who had experienced drink-drive enforcement. Figure 1 shows that 26% of all drivers had been tested (i.e. breathalysed) in the previous 3 years, with 15% having been tested one and 11% more than once; however the experience of drivers in Italy, where only 4% had been tested, was very different from those in Finland where sixteen times as many people had been tested.
While a majority of drivers support specific measures to deal with recidivists, or repeat offenders, perhaps surprisingly relatively few supported the use of ignition locks in cars, which would prevent the driver from starting the vehicle if they were over the limit. Interestingly, around three-quarters of drivers were in favour of drink-driving recidivists being ‘tested’ for being alcoholics. Although these findings are encouraging from the point of view of safety it should be remembered that driving after having drunk alcohol remains one of the main risk factors in European countries.

The European Commission estimates that about 10,000 people, around one-quarter of all those killed on the roads each year in Europe, died in accidents which involved at least one drunk driver.

Breaking speed limits

The table "Main speed limits in European countries" shows how current speed limits vary in different countries for different types of road with the limits in the UK have been converted from miles per hour. With regard to speeding behaviour, the surveys revealed that drivers in different countries held very different views, so that it was not possible to identify any simple distinction between groups of countries. In general, drivers do not link driving fast, or speeding, with driving dangerously when considering their own behaviour; although they find that other drivers’ speeding is dangerous. In fact, a majority of drivers admit to breaking speed limits while driving, especially on motorways, although many support measures to reduce speeds in built up areas. The more drivers feel they can drive quickly and safely, the more they are likely to admit to exceeding speed limits.