37% drive after drinking too much alcohol, according to Swiss survey

In Switzerland, 37% drive after drinking too much during the festive season, according to a survey by Comparis.

Most people will exceed Switzerland’s maximum blood alcohol level of 50 milligrammes of alcohol in every 100 millilitres of blood (0.25 mg/litre of breath) after drinking 500 ml of regular beer or 250 ml of wine.

For new and professional drivers the alcohol limit is zero in Switzerland.

However, 37% said they’d got behind the wheel after drinking two glasses of wine or half a litre of beer. In addition, 13% said they would never leave their car behind however much they’d had to drink.

Most party hosts were unlikely to intervene. 56% said they’d let their guests drive home drunk and only 30% would call a taxi for drunken guests.

There were significant linguistic and gender differences. Among French-speaking Swiss, only 10% said they wouldn’t drive after two glasses of wine compared to 22% of German speakers. The same percentages were 15% for men and 23% for women. 47% of men had already driven after drinking this much alcohol compared to only 28% of women.

According to the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention, when blood alcohol reaches 50 milligrammes of alcohol in every 100 millilitres of blood, the risk of a mortal accident doubles because of reduced reaction times.

The charity Red Nose offers a service that drives people home in their own car over the festive season. Red Nose is funded by donations.

The survey was done in November 2018 and involved 981 people in German- and French-speaking Switzerland.

More on this:
Comparis survey (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now

For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.