Drink Driving - Everyone should do it....Water that is!

Posted on Jun 15, 2021

New study shows everyone should drink and drive!

A recent study by Loughborough University has shown that having fewer than five sips of water per hour whilst driving is the equivalent to being over the drink drive limit.

Double the number of mistakes!

The study revealed that drivers who had only consumed 25ml of water per hour made more than double the mistakes on the road than those who were fully hydrated - the same amount of mistakes as those who were under the influence of alcohol. Professor Maughan, who led the study, said: 'We all deplore drink driving, but we don't usually think about the effects of the other things that may affect our driving skills, and one of those is not drinking and dehydration. There is no question that driving while incapable through drink or drugs increases the risks if accidents, but our findings highlight and unrecognised danger to suggest that drivers need to be properly hydrated.'

Results were eye opening

The levels of driver errors found were a similar magnitude to those who had a blood alcohol level of 0.08% the current UK legal driving limit. To put that into perspective drivers who are not properly hydrated, are less alert and make the same number of errors of those who drive over the legal UK limit! The test was undertaken on male drivers over two days, using an advanced simulator. The tests highlighted a number of errors, including lane drifting, late braking and touching or crossing the rumble strip. During normal hydration levels drivers tallied up 47 incidents, but when the men were dehydrated, they made a total of 101 errors.

Stay alert - Stay hydrated

So from these studies, its plain to see that we really need to think about a number of factors before we get behind the wheel. Dehydration causes many adverse effects to our bodies including, impaired mental functioning, short term memory, reductions in alertness and concentration and changes in our mood. So stay alert and stay hydrated! Do you agree with the researchers findings? Have you got something to say on this subject? Then let us know in the comments below.