Women disproportionately involved in drink-drive road accident casualties, says AA

Today’s drink-drive related road accident statistics, released by the Department for Transport and referring to accidents in 2018*, point to a worrying likelihood that women caught up in such accidents will be killed or injured.

“Statistics show that, although women are involved in 20% of drink-drive accidents, they make up 34% of casualties in these incidents. For men, it is 80% involvement in accidents but 66% in related casualties,” says Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA.

“Many of these women will be passengers and the AA has long warned parents to be wary of who might be driving cars their daughters, and sons for that matter, are passengers in.

“Overall, drink-drive road accidents are up 3% year on year but significantly lower than in 2016. They account for one in eight road deaths.

“Ironically, one of the few good things to come out of the coronavirus epidemic should be big drop in drink-drive road accidents and casualties. However, that shouldn’t be allowed to hide unsettling trends related to this type of incident.”

* https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-final-estimates-involving-illegal-alcohol-levels-2018