With the festive season approaching and decorations and music now firmly established in the shops, Governments around the world are launching annual drink-drive campaigns. As the office party season is rapidly approaching, the Shell Road Safety Expertise Centre (RSEC) team wishes all Shell and contractor road users a happy and safe festive season.
At the same time, we are urging people to travel safely during this period and to continue to do so throughout next year. This is a key message for all managers, supervisors and drivers in the organisation as well as for people travelling. Listed below are some safe travelling tips for the holiday season:
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If you are going to or organising a Christmas party, think about how you and your invitees will travel. If you plan to drink or provide alcohol, make arrangements in advance for non-drinking ‘designated drivers’ and hire minibuses, taxis or limousines for the end of the event. Encourage the use of public transport where available.
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Look out for each other. Try to speak to each of your guests before they leave the party. Trust your instincts – if you think someone is ill-equipped to drive, call them a cab, arrange a ride with a sober friend, or encourage them to stay over.
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Do not get behind the steering wheel if you have had alcohol, even if just one glass. Call a taxi or get a lift with someone else who has not been drinking. Remember there is nothing that sobers you up quickly as realising that you’ve run someone over or are pulled over by the police.
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Ensure that anyone travelling to work the next day is aware of the ‘morning after’ effect; that alcohol takes hours to be broken down and leave the body.
We are especially keen that colleagues and their families are vigilant when driving the morning after a night out. It takes hours for alcohol to leave the body and drivers can unwittingly be over the limit as they drive the next day. In fact, Police data suggests that nearly one in five drink-drive or driving under the influence offences are committed by people driving to work still over the limit the morning after – with a drink-drive conviction often resulting in a driving ban, serious fine and in the worst cases a prison sentence.
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