Expected and reported effects of alcohol .sx Although drivers on the whole recognised the impact of alcohol on driving skills , a sizeable minority appeared sceptical about the dangers involved .sx About one in four men drivers and one in seven women drivers felt that driving when a little over the legal limit did not increase their risk of being involved in an accident .sx Similar proportions agreed that if they felt alright to drive then it would be safe to do so even if they were " a bit over the limit " ( Appendix C :sx Table VII) .sx Relatively few drivers , on the other hand , thought that they could handle more alcohol than the average drinker .sx No more than one in eight drivers took this view in any of the four main driver groups ( Appendix C :sx Table VIII) .sx The majority of drivers reported what might be described as positive effects of drinking alcohol .sx Feeling more relaxed was claimed by at least two-thirds of drivers across each of the four groups .sx Moreover , almost half the younger drivers and one-third of older drivers reported that drinking alcohol made them feel more impulsive .sx (Appendix C :sx Table IX) .sx Attitudes to drinking and driving .sx There was strong evidence that drinking and driving attracted widespread condemnation among the friends and families of the drivers in the survey .sx Almost all drivers expected that their families would disapprove of drinking and driving .sx On the other hand , men drivers were less likely than women drivers to expect that their friends would disapprove of their drinking and driving ( Appendix C :sx Table X) .sx The majority of drivers themselves felt it was clearly wrong to drive after drinking over the limit .sx More than four out of five in each of the main driver groups agreed that it was morally unacceptable to do so .sx However , the proportion of drivers whose attitudes to drinking and driving were more ambivalent was by no means insignificant .sx More than one-third of both men and women drivers felt that it was difficult to avoid some drinking and driving if they were going to have " any kind of a social life " .sx In addition , almost half the younger men drivers thought it was likely that they would drive in the next year when they were over the legal limit .sx Even among older women drivers this proportion was more than one in five ( Appendix C :sx Table XI) .sx Moreover , at least one in four younger male drivers said that limiting themselves to one or two standard drinks would seriously affect their enjoyment of social occasions ( Appendix C :sx Table XII) .sx Overall , men drivers most often gave the risk of legal sanctions as the main reason for cutting down their drinking before driving .sx About four out of ten men drivers gave this explanation compared with about two out of ten women drivers .sx For women drivers , general concern about the risk of being involved in a road accident was the most frequently cited reason for limiting the amount of alcohol consumed before driving .sx Less frequently , drivers gave the risk of injury to themselves as their reason for drinking less before driving .sx ( Appendix C :sx Table XIII) .sx Consistent with their reasons for reducing alcohol consumption before driving , men drivers appeared more concerned about the impact of conviction on their personal life than women drivers .sx About three out of ten men drivers compared with two out of ten women drivers thought that a drink-driving conviction would " almost ruin " their lives ( Appendix C :sx Table XIV) .sx The majority of drivers felt that the breathalyser was a fair test of the amount of alcohol in a driver's blood .sx But about one in four men drivers and about one in six women drivers disagreed .sx A greater proportion of drivers felt that the breathalyser was not a fair test of whether someone was safe to drive .sx About one in three men drivers and one in five women drivers gave this view ( Appendix C :sx Table XV) .sx Knowledge of the law and police powers .sx When asked whether they could state the legal blood alcohol limit in milligrams ( mg ) of alcohol per 100 millilitres ( ml ) of blood , two-thirds of men drivers but less than half the women drivers were able to supply a figure .sx Overall , only a small proportion of drivers thought the legal maximum limit was higher than 80 mg/100 ml blood .sx In contrast to the numbers specifying a legal blood alcohol limit , rather more drivers were able to indicate what they thought was the most they could drink without going over the legal limit .sx Only about one in twenty men drivers and one in ten women drivers were unable to say how many units of beer they thought they could drink without going over the legal limit .sx The majority of drivers gave a figure of four units or less of beer .sx But while almost all women drivers gave such an answer , about one in five men drivers said they thought they could drink five or more units of beer without exceeding the legal limit ( Appendix C :sx Table XVI) .sx On the whole , drivers did not appear confident about their chances of avoiding detection if they did drink and drive .sx About three-quarters of both men and women drivers estimated that their own chances of being caught were one in 100 or greater ( Appendix C :sx Table XVII) .sx Similarly , two-thirds of drivers judged that their risk of being stopped by the police was greater if they had been drinking than when they were sober ( Appendix C :sx Table XVIII) .sx On the other hand , about one-third of men drivers , but slightly fewer women drivers , agreed with the statement that if they drove carefully after drinking they were not likely to get caught by the police .sx ( Appendix C :sx Table XIX) .sx When asked about the penalties for a first conviction on a drink-driving offence , the most frequently mentioned sanctions were disqualification , fine and licence endorsement .sx Overall , men drivers were more likely to mention disqualification than were women drivers , nevertheless , about one in four men drivers failed to recall this mandatory consequence of conviction ( Appendix C :sx Table XX) .sx The majority of drivers recognised that , under the present law , the police can stop any driver without needing a particular reason to do so .sx Although the clear majority of drivers were aware they were liable to be stopped at any time while driving , there was a sizeable minority , particularly among older men drivers , who thought that the police needed to have a specific reason to stop someone .sx Three out of ten older men drivers expressed this view .sx The majority of drivers also felt ( mistakenly , since there need to be reasonable grounds for suspicion ) that the police could breathalyse any driver without needing to have a particular reason .sx Again , the proportion who thought that the police needed to have a specific reason was highest among older men drivers ( Appendix C :sx Table XXI) .sx Apart from older women drivers , most drivers in the survey knew personally someone who had been breathalysed at some time and more than two-fifths of younger men drivers knew someone who had been breathalysed in the past 12 months .sx Rather fewer drivers had themselves ever been breathalysed .sx Overall , about one in four of younger and one in six of older men drivers had been required to take a screening breath test compared with no more than one in thirty among the corresponding age-groups of women drivers ( Appendix C :sx Table XXII) .sx Self-reported drink-driving .sx Analysis of drinking occasions away from home over the preceding seven days showed that about one in ten men drivers and about one in fifty women drivers in the survey had driven on one or more occasions in the previous week after drinking five or more units of alcohol .sx Other survey data indicated that rather higher proportions of both men ( 22 per cent ) and women drivers ( five per cent ) had driven after drinking at least five units of alcohol on one or more occasions over the previous 12 months .sx To sum up , the preceding overview of the general survey findings provides some grounds for optimism over the extent to which drivers limit their alcohol consumption before driving .sx While drinking away from home was a frequent activity , particularly for younger male drivers , drivers in general were much less likely to drive themselves home after drinking five or more units of alcohol than after drinking a lower amount .sx The effects of alcohol on the risks of being involved in an accident were generally well-recognised and , on the whole , drivers expressed strongly negative attitudes to drinking and driving and were well-informed about the legal limit and the number of drinks which would keep them on the right side of the law .sx Drivers also appeared not to underestimate police powers and , on the whole , they revealed favourable attitudes to the main roadside screening device - the breathalyser .sx Drivers did not appear to underestimate the chances of being caught or minimise the consequences of detection and conviction .sx There were , nevertheless , some findings which give rise to concern .sx A minority of drivers , for example , indicated that they had driven after drinking five or more units at least once in the preceding week .sx A larger proportion felt safe to drive even if they were over the legal limit .sx More evident still was the belief that drinking and driving were necessary aspects of drivers' social lives and almost half the younger male drivers in the survey agreed that they were likely to drink and drive at least once over the coming 12 months .sx About one in three drivers felt that they were unlikely to be caught driving with illegal BACs if they drove carefully .sx The next Chapter examines the relationship between police enforcement practices and respondents' reported drink-drive behaviour .sx 3 Area differences in drink-driving .sx Drivers in the survey were assigned to one of three groups according to the location of interview .sx Nottinghamshire and Gwent were combined to form the high-enforcement area .sx Leicestershire and Gloucestershire formed the low-enforcement area .sx Drivers interviewed elsewhere in England and Wales comprised the 'national' group .sx The present and following Chapters examine whether drivers in the high-enforcement area were less likely to drink and drive than those in the low-enforcement area and , if so , was this because they perceived a greater risk of being caught ?sx The extent of area differences in driver behaviour provides the focus of the present Chapter .sx The next Chapter addresses whether any such differences can be explained by variations in perceived detection risks or whether other driver characteristics need to be taken into account .sx Is drink-driving related to police enforcement .sx At the beginning of their interviews , drivers were asked about each drinking occasion away from home during the previous seven days .sx Questions covered the numbers and types of drinks consumed as well as the means of travel away from the drinking location .sx The survey findings , based on details of more than 3,000 drinking occasions , are presented separately for men aged 17-29 and 30-60 and for women aged 17-60 in Tables 2 , 3 and 4 .sx These Tables show how respondents travelled from the drinking location after drinking ( a ) four or fewer units and ( b ) five or more units of alcohol for each of the three survey areas .sx Table 2 based on men drivers aged 17-29 shows that the proportion of drinking occasions involving five or more units of alcohol followed by driving was eight per cent in the high-enforcement area compared with a much higher 18 per cent in the low-enforcement area , a statistically significant difference ( chi-square = 11.78 , 1 d.f. , p<0 .sx 001 , one-tailed test) .sx The corresponding rate in the 'national' area was 12 per cent .sx table&caption .sx Table 3 shows that the figures for older men drivers ( aged 30-60 ) were 11 per cent in the high-enforcement area and again a much higher 27 per cent in the low-enforcement area , a statistically significant difference ( chi-square = 3.45 , ) .sx The equivalent rate in the 'national' area was 17 per cent .sx Table 4 shows that for women drivers in the high-enforcement area only four per cent of drinking occasions involving five or more units of alcohol were followed by driving , while the proportion for the low-enforcement area was higher at 11 per cent .sx