Campaigner: Jamieson

The government today launches its annual "don't drink and drive" campaign ready for the Christmas season.

Road safety minister David Jamieson unveiled the latest £1 million campaign on Tuesday which marks 25 years of progress in cutting the number of deaths by drunk drivers.

Since the first national campaign was launched in 1976 the government estimates that 20,000 lives have been saved and hundreds of thousands of serious injuries prevented. In that first year more than 1600 died at the hands of drunk drivers. Last year that figure was 520, although it had risen from 1999 total of 460.

Ministers are particularly concerned that the greatest number of both victims and offenders are young men aged 17 to 24.

Launching the latest adverts, Jamieson said the government would not rest on its laurels as the number of offenders was still too high.

"Drinking and driving is a menace. It is the enemy of decent people in the country who use the roads sensibly, and the enemy of all the relatives of victims who have had to live with the tragic consequences.

"We can never be satisfied until every driver is instilled with the message that drinking and driving do not mix. The increase in fatalities last year only serves to remind us that the job is not done," Jamieson said.