'Tis the season to be jolly, but 'tis not the season to wake up the morning after a night out and start driving. Why? Because you're (probably) over the limit.
One in five motorists (19%) have driven the morning after a night of heavy drinking - even when they thought they might have been over the legal limit, according to a survey.
But more than half (54%) of drivers do try to avoid drink-driving by agreeing a designated driver before a night out.
Based on responses from 19,887 adults, the AA/Populus survey also found that drinking lots of water and eating a fried breakfast were the two main ways of reducing alcohol levels.
The figures were released to co-incide with a Christmas anti-drink driving campaign from the AA and drinks company Pernod Ricard UK.
The poll showed that women (58%) were more likely than men (52%) to nominate a designated driver before a night out drinking, but only 43% of 18-24 year olds would do so compared with 58% of those aged 65 or over.
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Londoners (40%) were the least likely to agree a designated driver but the most likely to plan to use public transport or taxis. Drivers in the east of England (61%) and in south west England (60%) were most likely to agree a designated driver.
In Scotland, where the legal drink-drive limit has just been lowered from 80mgs to 50mgs, 9% of drivers opted for soft drink Irn Bru as a alcohol-reduction measure compared with just 1% in the UK.
The drinking-lots-of-water method was most popular in London and south east England, while the fried breakfast trick was favoured most by Londoners, those in north east England and by younger drivers.
Other ways of trying to reduce alcohol levels included eating chocolate or going for a run.
AA president Edmund King said: "It is encouraging to see that many people are choosing to select a designated driver before a night out but it's really important that they also consider arrangements for the morning after too.
"Alcohol levels in the body can still mean that drivers are over the limit the following morning and we want to ensure that people are fully aware of this when they are making the decision whether or not to get behind the wheel."
Pernod Ricard UK managing director Denis O'Flynn said: "It's clear that a lot of people are making the right choices but often they don't realise the dangers of driving in the morning after a night of festivities."
