Drastic measures

WE all know that drinking and driving is not a good idea.

Most of us appreciate that it's better to stay on soft drinks if we plan to get behind the wheel. But before driving home from work, what harm could a quick pint, small glass of wine or harmless vodka and orange with a colleague cause? After all, it's only one.

If you have ever thought that, you should think again.

You might believe a couple of vodkas will not be enough to tip the balance, but have you thought just how much vodka the landlord might be pouring into your glass?

Nationally, one in four pubs has taken to serving a "super-sized" measure of spirits, substituting the traditional 25ml to 35ml as standard, and in York, we found 40 per cent of pubs and bars fitting in with the trend.

In some establishments, a standard glass of wine has risen from 125ml to 175ml or even 250ml, again possibly without you noticing.

And when was the last time you checked the bottle for its alcohol content? You could be necking super-strength vino that could land you in trouble at the road side and not even know it.

Two initiatives have been announced today in a bid to address this issue. For a start, drinkers can log on to a new national website (www.drinkaware.co.uk), set up by the alcohol industry- funded Portman Group, which features an alcohol unit calculator using real brands and serving sizes, so that users can pinpoint the actual number of units they consume.

Britain's biggest brewer, Scottish Courage, has revealed plans to label its cans and bottles with health warnings and how many units each contains.

The drink-drive limit is 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. But that figure cannot be translated accurately into units, because body size, age, gender and metabolism can alter how quickly alcohol is absorbed into the blood

As a guideline, a 25ml shot of vodka equates to one unit, and it used to be thought that a small glass of wine added up to the same.

But that was based on wine that was eight per cent alcohol by volume (abv), whereas most wines currently are about 12 per cent.

So that means most small glasses have about 1.5 units, about the same as a Smirnoff Ice, with a pint of lager topping 2.3 units.

But a 35ml shot of spirits would bring you to almost 1.5 units, and two of those could send you well over your limit, especially on an empty stomach.

Critics say that drinkers could unwittingly take to the road, unaware that their "one or two" was larger and stronger than they could have imagined, not suspecting because the price difference was not that much.

But Leanne Williams, manager of Plonkers wine bar in York, disagrees. She says drivers should not drink at all, 35ml measures give customers a better deal - and they certainly do notice the cost.

"We raised our spirit prices from £1.80 to £2.30 when we raised the measures and customers are sometimes shocked by the price, but it's better than them being ripped off with buying a double," she said.

"Most of the time they like it, they get a bit shocked because they think it's a lot of money, but when you explain it's a bigger measure then they're generally OK," she said.

Leanne believed the onus was firmly upon the driver to check what they were drinking, but admitted posters to alert them of new sizes and strengths might be a good idea.

"We switched to larger measures because a company approached us and said drinks should be served with a 35ml measure of spirits rather than drowning it out with a 25ml measure," she said. "Customers can generally see the 35ml glasses, so they know exactly how much they're drinking.

"The majority of our house wines are no stronger than about 12 per cent, because you've got to pay more if it's going to be stronger or better quality, but I've yet to see a customer of mine who asks to see how strong their wine is to see if they can have a full glass.

"I think the individual is solely responsible."

York Police licensing officer David Boag agrees that the driver should seek out the specifics of their tipple, and take responsibility for their actions.

He says the days of drink-driving being seen as the older man's problem are long gone, and more younger people are now chancing the breathalyser, partly because of stronger and larger drinks.

"When breathalysers first came out they were based on the standard pint of beer, which was roughly 3.5 per cent," he said. "That was the standard job, but now people are drinking things that are a lot stronger than that - some alcopops are nine per cent abv. It's alcohol by volume that's the problem. That is putting more and more younger people over the limit.

"People thought they could have two pints and be all right. That was the message that was given then, but it's not true in this day and age."

The facts speak for themselves. In 2003, 252 drivers were convicted of drink-driving in North Yorkshire, in comparison with 212 the year before.

The figure is rising sharply nationally, with 560 killed and 2,580 seriously injured in drink-drive crashes in 2003 - that is ten more deaths than the year before and the highest death rate since 1996.

PC Boag said: "The responsibility lies firmly on the doorstep of the person drinking. The licensing industry does all it possibly can to warn people with regards to drink and the consequences, like the DES campaign, run by the Portman Group, to try and get a designated driver that doesn't drink."

That's before the health risks. All right, that 35ml vodka and coke after work may not have dire consequences, but if you are a regular drinker, larger measures could, over time, seriously affect your health.

A spokeswoman for Alcohol Concern said the recommended daily allowance was two to three units for women and three to four units for men.

"If you're drinking, and drinking regularly, then there can be some long-term health risks involved rather than the hangover that you would normally get," she said. "You could suffer liver damage, possible heart and circulatory problems, high blood pressure, and you're not going to be doing your skin any good either.

"In extreme long-term cases you could get fertility problems or mouth cancer."

"Now and again you're not going to be doing yourself too much harm. But if you're regularly going out and drinking more than your recommended daily units, then you are going to be doing yourself health problems."

University of York health studies professor Christine Godfrey said Government figures showed drink-driving was on the increase.

"It's a really major issue. One of the problems is that for a whole range of drink now, the actual alcohol content in them has gone up. Spirits and wine are served in much larger glasses, so rather than being one unit of alcohol it's three units.

"The wine people drink now takes them over the limit, so whereas they think they can have one or two wines, actually, they can't. It's very likely people will be actually drink-driving without realising, and think they're drinking sensibly, but they're much more likely to have an accident - it's a really serious thing."

Prof Godfrey said licensees had a responsibility to warn people if they were serving larger or stronger drinks.

She said: "A few years ago, young people were very clear about drink-driving but attitudes are now changing, information isn't being put out as much and the message just isn't getting across.

"It's very difficult for licensees. If they know somebody's going to drink and drive then they've got a clear responsibility to tell the relevant authorities, but the message is that people driving should not drink at all. I don't think there's any safe level at all to drink and drive."

What York licensees say

Stephanie Duncan, promotions manager at Orgasmic, said: "All wines are generally between 11 and 12 per cent and I think they should tell people because you don't know what you're drinking otherwise. If you're going to serve something stronger then you should tell people. I'd like to know myself if I was being served something stronger than expected."

(Serves 25 ml spirits)

Russell Brooks, manager of Lendal Cellars, said: "We switched to larger measures about 18 months ago, because our parent company did some research and found that customers actually prefer larger measures.

"They get a 12oz glass, spirit and then about 50ml of mixer. We're just trying to give our customers a better service and a better drink - and a lot of people do notice the difference because we're charging more for it because it's a larger measure."

(Serves 35ml spirits)

Angela Golgier, manager at Kennedy's, said: "I think licensees have a responsibility, you need to know what size drink you're drinking and they need to be really clearly labelled.

"We have a price list and wine lists, we serve small measures in everything here because we don't encourage binge drinking.

"For the other point, people that aren't driving obviously get a better deal for their money."

(Serves 25ml spirits)

Updated: 10:46 Friday, November 12, 2004