Fifty Years Of Drink-Drive Adverts Hit Home

Fifty years of drink-drive messages have dramatically changed the public's attitude, with nearly all drivers saying they would be ashamed to be caught over the limit, according to a survey.

But the Government's THINK! campaign found young people were seven times more likely to think it acceptable than 55 to 64-year-olds.

Seven percent of 18 to 24-year-olds said drink-driving was still okay, compared with just 1% of their elder peers.

Overall, the poll of 2,000 people found 91% agreed boozing and driving was socially unacceptable, while 92% said they would be ashamed to fail a breath test.

The first drink-drive campaign, in 1964, used the setting of an office Christmas party to warn people about getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.

Half a century later a new campaign, contrasting the 1980 song Celebration with a dramatic crash scene and its aftermath, is hoping to remind people to never take the risk.

Drink-driving road deaths have fallen from 1,640 in 1967 to 230 in 2012.

But it took a while for it to become a social faux pas.

In 1979, more than half of male drivers admitted drinking and driving on a weekly basis, rising to two thirds for young male drivers.

More than 88% of people now say they would look down on someone who boozes and gets behind the wheel.

Some 45% of people surveyed said they would rather tell their partner they watch pornography regularly than confess to being caught drink-driving.

However, the decline in women drink-driving appears to be slower than in male drivers, according to separate AA research.

It said the number of men failing a breathalyser after an accident had dropped by 17.6% between 2010 and 2013 (2,992 compared with 2,466).

For women the drop was only 5.9% (853 to 803).

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."