GB rugby league team throws weight behind Lancashire’s drink drive campaign

Great Britain’s rugby league team urged Lancashire fans not to drink and drive and to plan alternative methods of transport if they were planning to drink alcohol throughout the December party season.

Through a sponsorship deal, the GB team is wearing the DfT’s Think! logo on its shirts for international fixtures and friendly matches.

"After football, rugby league is the second most popular sport in the north amongst males aged 18-35 years old, and recent figures show that young men under thirty have the most drink-drive related accidents," said Linda Sanderson, communications manager for the Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety. "Nearly 2000 male car drivers between the ages of 17-25 involved in an accident last year failed a breath test, and one in seven deaths on Lancashire’s roads involves drivers over the legal limit. It is vital that we keep up the pressure on motorists who continue to drink and drive and sponsorship initiatives like this put the issue high on the agenda."

Team Captain, Andrew Farrell added: "We want to help reduce road fatalities and injuries as a result of drink driving and to promote healthy living among our players and fans. If anyone is thinking about drinking then please don’t drive. Leave the car at home and either use public transport, share a taxi or appoint a designated driver."

The GB team also kindly donated signed rugby shirts and balls as prizes for road safety competitions in the Lancashire press and on radio.

For further information about this article please contact Cheryl Brown, the Partnership’s PR manager, Cheryl.Brown@env.lancscc.gov.uk.