This year, the Government is spending a reported £6 million on advertising for its Christmas anti-drink driving campaign message, predominately on TV, which isn’t working judging by the results of a survey by Auto Trader, the UK’s no 1 motoring website and magazine.

In spite of the Government’s effort to persuade motorists not to drink and drive this Christmas, the research from Auto Trader shows that more than half of UK motorists* admit to driving while over the limit, up by nearly 20% over the last three years. (*Source: Auto Trader survey, December 2008 and December 2005)

According to the research, UK motorists believe that the Government’s drink driving strategy falls short of changing people’s attitudes and behaviour.  Nearly 30% of motorists said that the Government’s Think! Campaigns will not stop them from drink driving and over 30% believe the Government should not waste money on advertising because people will drink and drive regardless of what the Government say. 

Over 50% of motorists believe the Government is not doing enough to stop people from drink driving and when it comes to the law and 70% of motorists want to see the police stopping and breathalysing more people, pre and during Christmas. 

Auto Trader’s research, which was conducted amongst more than 1,200 motorists nationwide, also shows that there is still much confusion about what the legal limit for alcohol is.  While 77% of motorists said they knew the legal limit for alcohol, 40% got it wrong – the legal limit is 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. 

And the confusion does not end there. When respondents were asked how many units a pint of beer is, 41% of respondents failed to give the right answer – one pint of beer equals two units and nearly 60% also got in wrong with a shot of spirit, which is one unit.

Matt Thompson, Marketing Director at Auto Trader, said: “According to the latest figures from the Department for Transport, drink-driving related fatalities were down 18% – from 560 in 2006 to 460 in 2007. The number of serious injuries also fell by 11% from 2006 to 2007, but there was a marked increase in more minor incidents, with the total number of drink and driving deaths and injuries rising by 220 cases a year to 9,620 – a 2% increase*.

“Our survey reveals that attitudes are not changing towards drink driving, which is worrying for all of us. Clearly, the Government’s communications campaigns are not getting the cut through required to halt the increase in drink driving, despite them spending £6 million on this season’s advertising. There urgently needs to be a review of Government’s drink driving policy and more collaboration with organisations that represent UK motorists.

“As the UK’s largest motoring channel, we have direct access to motorists and the deepest understanding of their behaviour. The Government should utilise our channel – and other motoring brands – to reach UK motorists.

“We would be interested to hear what KPIs and success measures the Government put in place before they launched this campaign and invested our money. How are they tracking performance and how will they adjust their plans based on these results – are they applying the same rigour in their marketing plans as we have to in the commercial sector?”

Auto Trader makes the world of cars easy, with a one-stop-shop of all things motoring – from new and used cars to insurance and finance – along with advice and solutions to help reduce the cost of motoring for everyone.

(*Source: Department for Transport, 2008)
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Notes to Editor:

• Auto Trader is the UK’s no 1 motoring website and magazine, with over 10.3 million monthly unique users, who carry out over 93 million searches on new and used vehicles. This record growth in monthly average unique users is a 25% year on year increase and a 38% month on month increase**. Auto Trader also publishes 13 regional magazines across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The brand is building a competitive position across all effective channels including the web, magazine and WAP. (**Source: Auto Trader Audit, March 2008). 

• Auto Trader is owned by Trader Media Group, which also publishes market-leading niche titles such as Top Marques, Bike Trader, Truck & Plant Trader, Ad Trader, Motorhome and Caravan Trader, Farmers Trader, Auto Freeway – all with the largest reach in their sectors, through web visitors and magazine readership.

• Trader Media Group publishes almost 70 titles every week with a combined circulation of 1.5 million and has leading websites for its top titles.

• Trader Media Group, a division of Guardian Media Group, operates in the UK, Ireland, Italy and South Africa.  The Group is looking to expand on its winning formula: developing a one-stop-shop for motorists; giving trade customers the opportunity to choose all effective channels to market; building the service and relationship with dealers and manufacturers; and strengthening its portfolio of automotive and specialist classified titles.

• Trader Media Group is jointly owned by Guardian Media Group and Apax Partners, with GMG as the majority shareholder.
For further information, please contact:
Karen Hughes/Caroline Burnell
The Drum Consultancy
Tel:  020 7025 8044
Fax:  020 7025 8100
Email: karenh@drumbeat.co.uk