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Campaign against drink driving launched by law firm for Christmas

For motorists, the Christmas and New Year Period is one of the busiest times of the year. Shopping for presents, food and party supplies; getting to a relative’s home for Christmas dinner or for New Year celebrations often involve a lot of driving. At this time, the weather often makes for difficult driving conditions. Heavy rain, ice, frost and snow can often lead to accidents, but at a time when public transport isn’t as regular as it could be, drink driving is another potential hazard drivers could end up negotiating.

Drink driving is at its worst during Christmas, something that the AA have shed light on. They revealed that 9,990 reported casualties on the road in 2011 alone were caused by someone driving having consumed more alcohol than the legal limit. Among the other stats revealed by the AA included over 200,000 casualties and fatalities being reported to the police last year and fatalities for car owners and pedestrians rose by 6% and 12% respectively.
To help raise awareness of the various dangers facing motorists during the next few weeks, personal injury firm First4Lawyers have launched a campaign urging people not to drive if they’ve had a drink. As they deal with many clients who’ve been involved in severe accidents on the road on an almost daily basis, they know what hazards that pedestrians, drivers and passengers encounter at all times of the year.

After recently winning the top prize at the Personal Injury Awards for their services in the field of personal injury law, those who work at the first4lawyers newcastle office are in a good position to know what people need to do in order to avoid being caught up in a serious or even fatal accident. There are a number of things that they suggest drivers should do when driving this Christmas, which include:

• Only driving when necessary. Making short trips when public transport will do should significantly reduce the possibility of being caught in an on-road collision.
• When driving, make sure that you don’t drive too quickly. This ensures you won’t worry about sliding across the road when driving over a thick sheet of black ice.
• Keep your eye on the road. This is important at all times of the year, but making sure you look out for any pedestrians or cars driving in front and behind you will ensure you won’t be caught in a sudden collision, which may result in injury.