One out of five has driven drunk
A fifth of Finnish motorists admit to having at some time driven while drunk, according to a new survey by the traffic safety organisation Liikenneturva. Even so, 80 percent are in favour of tougher penalties for drunken driving.
Men and older respondents to the survey were more likely to admit that they had at least once taken the wheel while intoxicated. Over half of the more than 1100 drivers questioned said that there were times that they had driven while feeling the effects of alcohol, even though they had not had enough to break the legal limit.
Tougher penalties for drunken driving have the backing of 80%. Even among those who said they have driven while intoxicated, the approval rate for harsher sentences was 70 percent.
A majority of 60 percent was found to be in favour of lowering the legal limit from the present 0.5 part per thousand to 0.2.
The TNS Gallup online survey was carried out in December and included the results of responses from more than 1400 participants, over 1100 of whom were active drivers.
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