A TARGETTED effort to encourage people not to drink and drive in West Devon has been launched by police in the borough. PC Angie Frost, crime prevention officer for West Devon, has teamed up with the Drink Aware Trust in an effort to encourage people not to drive after they have been drinking. The Drink Aware Trust is an independent, UK wide, public facing body with the objective of positively changing public behaviour and the national drinking culture to help reduce alcohol misuse and minimise alcohol-related harm. PC Frost said: 'The Drink Aware Trust campaign has developed a brand new anti drink-drive campaign featuring the slogan "Drink or Drive —You decide". The message is unequivocal — drivers have a choice — it's one or the other but not both.' PC Frost said the Trust has provided West Devon with a large quantity of beer mats, posters and window stickers. Other funding came from Debby Henderson, the Partnership Coordinator from Safer West Devon. PC Frost said: 'Debby assisted in project administration which enabled West Devon Police to apply for funding to provide T-shirts with the message 'We serve drinks not drunks" and Spikeys — a type of stopper for bottles that prevents people's drinks being spiked. These are particularly useful to prevent the date rape drug, which is clear and has no taste when added to a drink. 'This new campaign will assist the Okehampton Pub Watch Scheme that was launched over a year ago. Licensees in Okehampton have worked with police to make their scheme a great success and we could not have achieved our goals without their continued support.' PC Frost said in Tavistock town centre, the main five public houses and two pub/nightclubs have been given a bag of publicity material with an invite to join Pub Watch and create a scheme to equal that of Okehampton. She said: 'We are hopeful all seven will take part. Licensing laws have now changed and licensees have a greater responsibility regarding what happens in and outside their pubs. However, pubs must not be blamed for all that happens on our streets. People must look to themselves and act in a responsible manner.' PC Frost said the campaign was simple. 'If you are planning to drink, don't drive. There are lots of ways to avoid drink driving. You can get a lift with a non drinking designated driver, use public transport, call a taxi or arrange for a non drinking person to collect you. 'The alternative could well be a ride that ends up in a hospital or police station. 'If you are going to drive it is best not to drink at all. Alcohol slows reaction times and impairs your judgement as well as making you over-confident about your driving abilities.' Legally, the alcohol limit for drinking and driving is 80mg in 100ml of blood. However, this cannot be translated easily into number of drinks — how quickly a person reaches their limit depends on factors such as weight, sex, age and metabolism and whether or not they have eaten or the amount and type of alcohol they drink.
