MORE than one in three Australians admit they still choose to have a drink when they know they will be driving, new data shows leading into National Road Safety Week. A further one in five adults say they still drive when not being certain they are over the legal blood alcohol limit.
Nourished Life founder Irene Falcone is encouraging people to become more mindful about their alcohol consumption and to consider new drinking alternatives when socialising.
Ms Falcone's business Sans Drink, which sells non-alcoholic beverages, commissioned the road safety research released today.
She told The Courier Australian culture was too accepting of "drinking yourself crazy" whether it be for parties, beers after work on a Friday or as a domestic coping mechanism once children had gone to bed.
Ms Falcone said there was also such a focus on standard drinks, under a national medical-approved guide, impacted people in different ways. She said culture must change, especially when lives were at risk on our roads.
When Ms Falcone launched Nourished Life to promote eco-friendly, sustainable and toxic-free products about 10 years ago, she was deemed a radical for being a mum trying not to use harsh chemicals in her products. In a similar fashion, she hoped to get people thinking about and switch-up their drinking.
"Think how far we've come the past 10 years...reusable coffee cups are now cool," Ms Falcone said. "I want it to be kinda cool that you can pop open a non-alcoholic drink, drive home, go to the gym, sleep at night and not risk picking kids up from school with alcohol in your system.
"You can't just tell people not to drink. You can't tell people don't drink out of disposable coffee cups. Gradually you can try and make an alternative cool."
Australian Road Safety Foundation founder Russell White said the new data was disappointing, especially to see that less than 10 per cent of Australians organised designated drivers before going out.
"When we get behind the wheel of a car, we're not just responsible for our own life, but also the lives of everyone around us," Mr White said. "Because drinking is such an ingrained part of socialising in Australia, we need to get better at planning ahead or abstaining completely, or switching to alcohol-free drinks so we're not even tempted to drink-drive."
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While most major beverage brands - from beers, wines and spirits - now have non-alcoholic alternatives, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education warns this can result in greater brand loyalty or association which was a particular concern among young people below the legal drinking age.
FARE was also concerned about marketing of such brand-extension products in normalising alcohol consumption, especially in times when alcohol might normally not be consumed. This can also be in marketing zero-alcohol drinks as alternatives to soft drinks rather than alternatives to alcohol.
Ballarat Community Health alcohol and other drugs manager Suzanne Powell has maintained during the pandemic her warning increased stress and time to drink in isolation made this a high risk time for people to develop different, more dangerous drinking habits recreationally or to use new alcohol habits as a coping strategy.