RSOs and rugby league stars team up to launch drink drive campaign

Road safety experts teamed up with some of the toughest sportsmen on Merseyside to launch a hard-hitting drink drive campaign that highlights the damage that drinking and driving can cause.

The THINK! –Summer Drink Drive campaign was launched by LARSOA chair Steve Whitehouse and St Helens players Paul Sculthorpe, Keiron Cunningham and Lee Gilmour on 22 July at Knowsley Road - home of ‘The Saints’. All three players are part of the Great Britain Rugby League Squad that is sponsored by the DfT as part of the THINK! road safety campaign. A strong police enforcement campaign started on the same day.

"The campaign highlights the fact that the number of car drivers killed in drink-drive accidents fell gradually until 1999, but since then the figures have risen steadily - and by enough to account for more than half of the increase in car driver deaths since that year," Steve Whitehouse said. "These crashes now account for over one-fifth of car occupant deaths, and drink drive needs to be kept in the public arena so that people don't become complacent. In particular, young male drivers need a constant reminder about the dangers of drinking and driving as they are over-represented in the figures."

Paul Sculthorpe - Saints captain and Great Britain’s vice captain - threw his full weight behind the campaign. "People need to rethink how much they drink before they drive and this striking campaign highlights the dangers of drinking even a small amount of alcohol," he said. "Far too many people are killed and seriously injured in road accidents involving drinking and driving every year. We must strive to remind everyone of the importance of this message - please don’t don’t drink and drive."

For further details contact John Toker, 0151 934 4638 or Steve Whitehouse, 0151 934 4231.