Hold your breath!

You may be thankful to hear that the most dangerous day on the roads - 5 December - is now behind us. But without wanting to sound like a party pooper, this doesn’t mean it’s time to think that we’re in the clear for this time of year.

The most dangerous day date, which was revealed by Co-op Insurance, came about after the company analysed insurance claims. The reason for the date? A culmination of factors really - icy roads, people rushing off on shopping trips, darker nights...

Now the last time I looked, all those factors were still around. And judging by the police launching December campaigns across the UK about drink and drug driving, it’s clear that there’s still scope for things to go seriously wrong.

So I’m going to share a top tip that we do at Low Cost Vans that might help…

A big part of the police efforts to keeping the roads safe at Christmas is breathalysing tests - doctors say that even small amounts of alcohol in the system can slow reactions and increase the risk of accidents.

But knowing whether or not you are over the limit isn’t always straight forward as different metabolisms process alcohol differently. Of course if you’ve got a pounding head (or it’s down the loo) then there’s a sign that you’re not quite ready to drive. But you could be feeling absolutely fine yet still be over the limit.

So here at Low Cost Vans we ensure that all our staff have breathalysers so that they can test themselves the day after the Christmas party. This comes as a surprise to some people as not everyone knows but you don’t have to be a police officer to have a breathalyser – you can buy a pack of disposable tests online for under £5! Ironically that’s cheaper than a cocktail.

We also schedule our Christmas parties to be on a Friday so that most staff don’t have to drive to work the next day. But if they do, and they test as over the limit, they can have a duvet day which means they don’t have to come in to work until the afternoon.

Mini lecture over, now get on with enjoying the Christmas festivities and consider that your first gift of the season – now you know that you need never be driving over the limit again if you get yourself a breathalyser!