Driving whilst intoxicated, whether it is with alcohol or drugs, is extremely dangerous and illegal around the world. In English law if a person is caught drink driving they risk losing their license, paying a fine and might even have to serve a prison sentence. The government is responsible for a number of campaigns to help encourage drivers not to drink drive.
One of their campaigns is called Think! and targets drivers by showing a number of adverts either on TV, radio and billboards. It aims to prevent drivers from driving if over the limit by showing what could happen if you choose to do so.
The government say that anyone who risks driving whilst twice the legal alcohol limit is at least 30 times more likely to cause a road crash than a driver who hasn’t been drinking. They also warn the public that there is no fool-proof way of knowing whether you are over the drink drive limit; they say that it depends on a number of factors:
- Weight
- Gender
- Height
- Age
- Stress levels
- Metabolism
- Amount of alcohol
- Whether you have eaten close to consuming the alcohol
If you are a passenger in a car and allow yourself to be carried by a driver over the legal alcohol limit then you may be seen to have contributory negligence if you later become involved in a car accident, and suffer injuries as a result.
The principle that is explained in the Guide to RTA Liability states:
“A passenger may be guilty of contributory negligence if he rides with the drivers of a car whom he knows has consumed alcohol in such quantity as in likely to impair to a dangerous degree that driver’s capacity to drive properly and safely. So, also, may a passenger be guilty of contributory negligence if he, knowing that he is going to be driven in a car by his companion later, accompanies him on a bout of drinking which has the effect, eventually, of robbing the passenger of clear thought and perception and diminishes the driver’s capacity to drive properly and carefully. Whether the principle can be relied upon successfully is a question of fact and degree to be determined in the circumstances out of which the issue is said to arise.”
This means that if a passenger becomes involved in a car accident whilst knowing that the driver of the car they are in is over the limit then they may be held to have shown a percentage of contributory negligence towards any injuries they have sustained. a reduction in the amount of compensation they are entitled to receive is normal practice in these circumstances.
