We all want a safe Christmas, we don’t want to hear of tragic stories of drink drive accidents which are totally unnecessary. We all know the dangers and thanks to government education campaigns and enforcements the number of people killed in drink drive accidents since 1979 has been reduced by three quarters. However, still 380 people lost their lives in Britain last year as a result of drink drive accidents.

Thankfully most people are sensible and will designate a family member or friend to drive them home. Coca Cola have done some research this November 2011 and found that 66 million lifts will be given by friends and family at the end of a night out over the Christmas period to avoid travel costs. Also it seems that men are more willing to give up alcohol for the night to ensure they get friends and family home safely. Women are more likely to make use of a designated driver. Young drivers, 18-24 years old will give the most lifts over the festive period with an average of five passengers, only just over half of this age group has been a designated driver.

There is even less of an excuse now as for the forth year Coca Cola have teamed up with the Department of Transport to reward responsible drivers with a ‘buy one get one free’ on Coca Cola and Diet Coke in participating bars and pubs. The scheme runs for three weeks, from 9th December until 31st December and participating pubs and bars can be found on the dedicated website.  8000 bars and pubs have signed up and for the first time this year NUS bars are also taking part. Last year a whopping 1 million Coca-Cola drinks were given away for free.

So, please be safe, hop on over to the site and see the interactive pub finder to start enjoying those festive drinks. I have already located the pubs local to me participating in the scheme, after all we all love a freebie, and if it keeps all of us safe then all the better.