19 percent of Belgians admit to drink-driving now and then - double the European average
Today, a new campaign has been launched to counter drink-driving in Belgium. The so-called BOB campaign is targeted at those combining a party with a transfer by car: according to a European poll, a staggering 19 percent of Belgians admits to taking the car sometimes despite having drunk too much alcohol. The former Miss Belgium Celine Van Ouytsel hopes to turn the tide.
With summer coming up, and after a long spell of corona restrictions, it is feared that many will not be able to resist the temptation of drinking too much alcohol before they take their car again.
Stef Willems of VIAS Institute, the organisation for safe traffic: "19 percent of the Belgians admit that they sometimes take their car when they had too much alcohol - although they claim they don't feel the consequences. This is of course a no-go. The figure is almost double the European average of 10 percent."
"I am afraid it's part of our culture. We are too tolerant about this one. We also overestimate our driving capacities when we have taken alcohol", adds Stef Willems.
The former Miss Belgium Celine Van Ouytsel is the face of the new campaign. She designed a colourful T-shirt to bring the message across. "I choose a design with flowers, because we are approaching the summer festivals which remind me of flower power. And yes, maybe the flowers were a bit easier to draw than other more difficult things", she smiled.
Watch Celine Van Ouytsel presenting the campaign T-shirt here:
