THE Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has urged fleet managers to ban drivers drinking any alcohol at all when in charge of a company car over the Christmas period.

It has also claimed companies should take an enlightened view on 'morning after' driving, and not force employees who have been at work-related parties the night before into driving the next day, when they could still be over the legal drink-drive limit.

Kevin Clinton, RoSPA head of road safety, said: 'Companies which offer hospitality at Christmas must play a part in cutting the number of road casualties. Employers must manage the risks faced by their employees who drive in their job.

'Risks rise for those who may be tempted to have a Christmas drink with a client.' The society also wants firms to play a role in educating drivers on the dangers of drink driving, and to offer professional advice to employees with drink problems.

Alongside the message that drink driving costs lives, the Government has launched its campaign with the warning that convicted drink drivers will automatically lose their licences for 12 months.

Road safety minister David Jamieson said convicted drink drivers would have to deal with 'the humiliation, the loss of livelihood and judicial penalties. Add to this the likelihood of killing someone, or yourself, and this amounts to a powerful incentive to ditch drinking and driving.'

Provisional figures for 2000 indicate there were 520 drink-drive fatalities, 2,530 serious injuries and 14,980 slight injuries.

  • Further information on the campaign can be found on the DTLR website. Click here to go there.