Poll confirms NYE drink-drive risk

EIGHTY per cent of drivers in France plan to drink alcohol on New Year's Eve and almost half of them have not made any plans for getting home, according to a new survey coinciding with the annual campaign against festive drink-driving.

The poll by Prévention Routière, based on 1,200 respondents aged 18-64, found almost a third of people planned to drive to attend celebrations, and nearly 40% were planning a night at home with guests coming to visit them by car or motorbike.

Of those respondents planning to get behind the wheel, 43% said they had yet to decide how they would be returning home.

The findings come as a major TV advertising campaign launches on TF1 and France 2 in a bid to reduce accidents. A Twitter hashtag, #RentrerEnVie (make it home alive) is also circulating.

Last year, almost 1,000 people died on French roads in accidents linked to alcohol.

Meanwhile, a 30-year-old drink-driver caused delays to train services in the Dordogne after he mistook the Périgueux-Agen railway line for a road.

He turned on to the track at a level crossing at Villefranche-du-Périgord and drove for 2km before calling gendarmes for directions.

Trains could not run until late the following morning while the car was removed and damage to the electrical system repaired.

The driver was almost three times over the legal drink-drive limit and will appear in court in February.