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Anti-drink drive campaign adverts clock up 50 years on our TV screens

Motors | | Published: 11:57, Wednesday December 17th, 2014.

This Christmas sees the 50th anniversary of the first government anti-drink drive campaign.

In the last half century, attitudes to drink driving have shifted considerably and it is now widely seen as socially unacceptable.

The shift is a stark contrast to the first drink drive public information film in 1964, which was set in an office Christmas party.

The advert politely reminded people that “four single whiskeys and the risk of accident can be twice as great… If he’s been drinking, don’t let him drive.”

A recent survey of motorists, by the UK Government’s THINK! road safety campaign, found that 91% agreed that drink driving was unacceptable with 92% saying they would feel ashamed if they were caught drinking and driving.

This compares to over half of male drivers and nearly two thirds of young male drivers who admitted drink driving on a weekly basis in 1979.

Through a combination of road safety campaigning and better enforcement, road deaths due to drink driving have fallen from 1,640 in 1967 to 230 deaths in 2012.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “The change in attitudes to drink driving over the last 50 years is a huge success story. It is hard to imagine now how shocking and ground-breaking the first drink drive campaigns were when they launched. Clearly THINK! has had a significant impact.

“Most of us understand drink driving wrecks lives but there is further to go. In 2012, 230 people were killed in drink driving accidents – 230 too many. This makes the THINK! campaign as relevant as ever.”

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