It's Christmas party season – statistically the time of year when people are most likely to risk drink-driving. But it’s also when people are most likely to get caught. There are more police patrols on the road, including in the morning, and areas around popular party venues are heavily targeted.
The police are likely to be particularly vigilant this year, as the number of casualties involving drink-drivers rose from 9,300 in 2010 to 9,900 in 2011.
This increase has coincided with the Department for Transport (DfT) relaunching its anti-drink-driving TV campaign after a three-year absence. The THINK! ad, involving a barman acting out the consequences of being caught, last aired in 2009.
But the DfT says the ad has been revived due to a budget increase, not extra casualties.
Meanwhile, the DfT has joined with Coca Cola to offer designated drivers a buy-one-get-one free offer on Coke products at around 8,000 venues across the UK for the Christmas period.
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Like having a pet, cracking down on drink driving should not be "just for Christmas"
I wonder, surely being sacked for drink-driving would have to be in someone's contract, not arbitrarily imposed? And much as I understand the importance of all this, I still can't help but think this bartender is incredibly unpleasant and smug. There must be ways of getting the message over which are more easily received than this way of treating every drinker as a potential criminal