UTRECHT – During the corona pandemic, young people more often drove home under the influence of alcohol and drugs after appointments with friends than before the crisis. This is apparent from research by TeamAlert in Utrecht, an organization that is committed to reducing the number of road casualties among young people.
This mainly concerns rides after a house party or after chilling out. TeamAlert researcher Claire Borst: “The convenience of the car is the biggest reason for driving home under the influence. Because young people often overestimate themselves, they do not see the danger of alcohol and drugs behind the wheel.”
TeamAlert approached young people (16-24 years) who have ever been behind the wheel with alcohol or weed. Four in ten drove home with alcohol more often during corona when they had been with friends than before. Almost half (48 percent) of young people who sometimes smoke weed before driving did so more often during the lockdowns.
Also for corona with a sip on the steering wheel
The research shows that even before the pandemic, young people ended up behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol and drugs, especially after house parties or after chilling out with friends. This also happened more often than when they returned from the catering industry or from events. Borst: “That is very interesting, because it allows us to see that in addition to festivals, young people often get intoxicated from friends at home or drive home with drugs behind the wheel. Then we know that we can approach them at that place.”
According to TeamAlert, it is interesting to take this into account in campaigns by not only talking about alcohol or drug use during festivals or cafe visits.