The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)
I wanted to update the House on the launch of the Government’s latest Think! road safety campaign, targeted at drink-driving.
Action by successive Governments over the last 30 years has meant that the number of people killed in drink-drive accidents has been reduced by over three-quarters since 1979. But drink-driving remains a problem; 280 people lost their lives in 2011 in drink-drive accidents on Britain’s roads.
Working in partnership with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), so that people see education and enforcement working together, the Government have just relaunched their successful Think! campaign aimed at reminding drivers—particularly young drivers, who are over-represented in the casualty figures—of the risks of getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol: http://think.direct.gov.uk/.
The ACPO enforcement anti-drink and drug-driving enforcement campaign seeks particularly to focus on well-intentioned drivers who do not think they are breaking the law but may be over the legal limit by the time they get into their cars in the morning.
Separately, at the end of last week I launched a further round of the very successful designated driver campaign, in partnership with Coca-Cola. Now in its fifth year, the nationwide campaign offers designated drivers a “buy one get one free” deal on Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero at participating pubs. The campaign began last Thursday and will run until the end of December. Further details are available at: http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/designated-driver/.