Drinking and Driving at the 2012 Olympics
No, this article is not about a new Olympic event. For those of you lucky enough to attend the Olympics in London this month, and for those watching the Olympics on television, we wanted to present a few useful facts about drunk driving in Great Britain to add a little color and background to the athletic events taking place in the London area.
First of all, it’s called “Drink Driving” in England. Drink driving is not a typo – it’s a shortened expression for “drinking and driving.” In the USA we say drunk driving, in the England they say drink driving.
The legal limit for drink driving in Great Britain is the same intoxication level as in the USA. However, the intoxication limit is expressed using a different unit of measurement. The unit of measurement for breath alcohol in the UK is micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliter of breath. The legal limit for drink driving in the UK is 35 ?g alcohol per 100 ml breath. The equivalent measurement in the USA is 0.08% BAC, whi
The penalties for drink driving in the UK can be severe. (source: direct.gov.uk)
|
Drink driving offence |
Maximum penalty |
|
Being in charge of a vehicle while above the legal limit or unfit through drink |
|
|
Driving or attempting to drive while above the legal limit or unfit through drink |
|
|
Refusing to provide a specimen of breath, blood or urine for analysis |
|
|
Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink |
|
The advice at the London Olympics is the same as in the USA: If you drink, don’t drive.
800-227-9890