12% Of Scots Would Still Drink & Drive

4 December 2015, 06:00 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

The majority of Scots believe consuming any alcohol before getting behind the wheel is unacceptable.

However some people said they would still drive themselves home after drinking on a night out.

A year after a lower drink-drive limit was introduced in Scotland, a survey found 82% of people agreed that drinking any alcohol before driving is unacceptable, while 12% disagreed.

Meanwhile, police figures show the number of drink-driving offences in Scotland fell by 12.5% from December 2014 until August compared to the same period the previous year.

This is a drop in the number of offences from 4,208 to 3,682, Police Scotland data shows.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: "Since the Scottish Government lowered the drink-drive limit last December, all the statistics are going in the right direction - fewer people are being caught, but more importantly there's a shift in attitudes to even having one drink and driving, and indeed driving the next day after drinking.

"But while these figures show that positive steps are being taken to change attitudes towards drink-driving, it is concerning that there is still a minority who would risk the safety of other road users, and themselves, by getting behind the wheel after drinking.

"That is why I welcome the police action being taken to tackle reckless road users who continue to flout the law. Collectively, we are sending out a strong message when it comes to drink-driving and our advice is simple - just don't risk it.''

The online survey of 1,003 adults was carried out last month for the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland.

One in 20 said they would drive themselves home after they had been drinking on a night out, while 67% would not consider driving the morning after drinking.

Speaking ahead of the launch this weekend of Police Scotland's festive enforcement campaign, Superintendent Fraser Candlish said: "Police stop around 20,000 drivers a month in Scotland; that's one vehicle on average every two minutes.

"We will be increasing our enforcement throughout the festive period to discourage anyone thinking about drinking and driving, so the best advice is if you are planning to drink this Christmas, don't drive.''