Young peoples' binge drinking habits have been a major UK health concern for a good few years. It seems that social pressure leads many young people to drink more heavily than their bodies can handle, especially at the weekends when large quantities of alcohol are consumed. Unfortunately, this means that there are also many young drink drivers on our roads as well.

One in five new drivers has an accident within their first year of driving. Speeding, pressure from friends to go faster and tiredness are all major contributors to road accidents caused by young drivers.

However, alcohol is also a huge danger when combined with a young driver. Alcohol decreases awareness and coordination, slows reactions and blurs vision. These all inhibit driving performance and a driver's inability to make sound judgements may leave them convinced that they are driving safely, making it very likely for drink drivers to cause a road accident. Inexperienced, young drivers are also much more likely to crash.

The majority of drink driving road accidents occur between 10pm and 4am on Friday and Saturday nights when everyone is out letting their hair down for the weekends. Young drivers are more likely to have a car crash in the evenings and early mornings, suggesting a clear link between the majority of drink driving accidents and young driver accidents.

The consequences of drink driving Although 17-21 year olds only represent 7% of UK driving licence holders they make up 13% of drivers involved in road accidents that result in personal injuries. There are many other consequences of driving while under the influence of alcohol:

A monetary fine  Points on your licence  A driving ban  Damage to your car or another vehicle  A criminal record  Imprisonment  Most significantly if drink driving you could seriously injure or kill someone, 1 in 7 road accident fatalities are associated with drink driving (DETR, 1999). This is a big price to pay and something that you will have to live with for the rest of your life.

Being involved in a drink driving accident can also affect your young driver car insurance premium. Car insurance companies will see you as a big risk if you have previously caused a road accident and increase your car insurance rates. Also you can expect to see an increase in your motor insurance when you return to the road after being issued with a drink driving ban.

Drink driving campaigns for young drivers

Many believe that pubs and clubs have a responsibility to discourage young people from drink driving. Some pubs display THINK campaigns which aim to raise motorists' awareness of various road safety issues however the presence of drink driving campaigns seem to be few and far between.

Cynics could speculate that this is because pubs generate a lot of revenue from the sale of alcoholic drinks to young customers and they do not wish to shoot themselves in the foot. But, this is an issue that should be addressed and some regions of the UK have already taken action. For example, one drink driving campaign put in place in selected pubs provides designated drivers with free soft drinks to encourage them to stay off the booze.

Drink driving advice for young drivers

Two distinct types of drink drivers have been identified. Some drink intentionally because they believe that they won't get caught. This is foolish because it is not worth the risk when considering the consequences. On the other hand, some don't plan to drink but are pressured into it or don't plan how to get home after a night drinking and fail to look for alternative options. Here are some tips on how to avoid drinking and driving:

Book a taxi home or stay at a mate's house overnight. Take it in turns among your friends to be the nominated driver and stick to soft drinks. Don't tease friends for drinking soft drinks and push them into wanting a drink. If your friend has been drinking discourage them from driving. Even if they are under the legal limit their driving may be impaired Remember that you could still be over the legal limit the next morning To avoid paying the consequences such as a driving ban, fine, young driver car insurance rate increase or even living with the fact that you have injured or killed someone as a result of your drink driving DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE.