ON May 2, 1998 Jane and Mike Evason’s 19-year-old son Gareth said goodbye before going on a night out.

Just hours later they had a knock at the door that would change their lives forever.

They were told their son had died as he walked home from a night out at the Lamb Inn and Challow Country Club, Wantage, knocked down by his friend who was over the limit.

Mrs Evason, 57, who lives in Grove said she was still traumatised by losing her son in a drink-driving accident and urged motorists not to get behind the wheel if they have had a drink.

Speaking on the 50th anniversary of the Government’s first Think! anti drink-drive campaign, Mrs Evason, said: “Your children are your life, you conceive them, you give birth to them, you bring them up the best you can and then it’s all taken away.”

Oxfordshire County Council said since 1979 there have been 112 deaths from collisions involving drivers who gave a positive breath test or refused to give one.

Mrs Evason said: “The only way people can be sure the decisions they take when driving won’t be impaired is by not having any alcohol at all before getting behind the wheel.”

Gareth was studying Media, Travel and Tourism at Abingdon College when he was killed.

His brother Neil was 18 at the time and is now married with two children.

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Mrs Evason said: “Gareth was only 19, he had so much more to give to so many people. He would have been 35 now, probably married with kids – in fact Gareth would definitely have had kids and Neil’s boys would have an uncle.

“My friends always say how strong I am and that I’m always smiling but inside it’s very tense. I’m very lucky to have a good husband and a lovely son, but I should have two.

“Gareth was such a happy person, a free spirit, he was saving up to buy a VW camper van – I think he would have been the type to be down in Cornwall surfing.”

Gareth’s friend Mark Snewin was two-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit and had been drinking with him just minutes before making the decision to drive home. He was convicted of causing death by careless driving under the influence of alcohol and jailed for four years. He served a year in a young offenders’ institute, a year in jail and one on parole.

Road safety manager at Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service Mick Clarke said: “Fifty years of recognised and sustained campaigning have meant it’s become more socially unacceptable to have a drink and get behind the wheel. I think there’s a hardcore who still think it’s acceptable, it’s about re-enforcing the message that the risk is too high.”

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CAMPAIGN FIGURES

Figures for road traffic accidents in Oxfordshire where a positive breath test was given by a driver or they refused to give a breath sample.
Yearly averages by decade since records began in 1979.

YEAR    FATAL     SERIOUS    KSI     SLIGHT    TOTAL
1979      8          104           112         194       306
1980s     5.5      70.6          76.1       135.8     211.9
1990s     2.8      21.6          24.4       114.2     138.6
2000s     1.6      19.6          21.2          97        118.2
2010s     0.75    16.25         17          52.25      69.25

NB: KSI = killed and seriously injured
Source: Oxfordshire County Council

 

DRINK DRIVING

  • In the UK, the alcohol limit for drivers is 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood or 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath. The amount of alcohol you would need to drink to be considered over the driving limit varies from person to person.

On average it takes one hour for a healthy liver to process one unit of alcohol. A glass of wine is 3.5 units and a pint of beer is 2.5 units.
Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of alcohol or other drugs carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

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