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Arena Magazine 2007 Issue 4 Winter Arena |
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Binge drinking: Sobering statistics
Alcohol alarm bells ring as festive season beckons.
Did you know...?
- Since 1979 alcohol-related deaths among men have almost tripled while for women they have almost doubled.
- Alcohol-related crime costs the UK £7.3bn a year in terms of policing, prevention services, processing offenders through the criminal justice system and the human costs of the victims.
- Half of all violent crimes are alcohol-related.
- Around one third of incidents of partner violence occur when the perpetrator has been drinking.
- Alcohol plays a part in more than one million fights, 19,000 sexual assaults and 360,000 domestic violence incidents each year - costing the NHS £1.7bn.
- Alcohol use is estimated to cost UK companies around £700 million (with between 8 and 14 million working days lost a year).
- Heavy drinking is the 3rd highest risk factor for ill health, second only to tobacco and high blood pressure and responsible for seven per cent of disability and premature death in the EU.
- Studies have shown at peak times as many as seven out of ten admissions to A&E are alcohol-related.
Drink driving: A deadly cocktail
- On average 11 people are killed by drink-drivers in the UK every week.
- Drink and drive and you could kill yourself and other road users, survive and you could face 14 years in prison for causing death by careless driving.
- Drinking above the legal limit or failing to provide a blood, breath or urine sample and you could face 6-12 months in prison, plus a fine of up to £5,000 and a ban from driving for up to 12 months.
- In 2002, 20,060 people were killed or injured in drink-drive crashes.
- Even small amounts of alcohol affects drivers' reaction time, judgement and co-ordination, it creates a false sense of confidence and means drivers are more likely to take risks.
- Drink drivers account for one in six road deaths.
- An estimated 80 road deaths a year are caused by drivers who are under the drink drive limit, but who have a significant amount of alcohol in their blood.
- More than one in four drivers (28 per cent) also admit driving the morning after having a lot to drink, when they are likely to still be over the limit.
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