Wiltshire firefighters ask 'if you're drinking, who's getting you home?'

Our local fire service wants to prevent drink drive incidents

Author: Faye TryhornPublished 10th Jul 2022

With perfect pub garden weather around in Wiltshire at the moment, there's a plea from our firefighters to think carefully about getting home safely.

They're warning people not to drink and drive, as they don't want to deal with the consequences.

Road Safety Manager at Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, Christine Sharma, says they're keen to get the message across:

"We work in collaboration (with police, councils etc) to help prevent the awful things that happen on our roads. We actually attend more road traffic collisions that we do fires, so it's a really big thing for us."

Plan your journey home from the pub, before you even go out - the message from DWFRS this summer

Summer drink drive campaigns are commonplace, with sunny weather, lighter evenings and live sporting events like the Women's Euros and the upcoming Commonwealth Games tempting more of us out to pubs and bars.

We're asked to consider our journey home before we venture out, so we're not tempted to drive ourselves back illegally.

DWFRS Road Safety Manager, Christine Sharma, says they're not trying to discourage fun, but there's a serious side:

"We're not saying stay at home, because we all like to have a bit of fun and we recognise that alcohol recreationally and drunk responsibly is a perfectly acceptable thing. What we are saying is please do make sure that you're responsible when you are drinking and think about how you're transporting yourself home again."

Ways to plan ahead suggested by the fire service include asking others in your household for a lift, keeping enough cash aside for a taxi or public transport and keeping your phone charged to Google safe transport home, and call for it.

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