Alcohol, the festive season, and driving, simply do not mix, local road crash statistics show.

Drink-driving at any level over the Christmas/New Year period can be a dangerous thing, Andrea Hamilton Vaughan believes.

Road Safety Officer for Orange and Cabonne, she said that it is almost always better to have a Plan B than to rely on responsible drinking, when celebrating Christmas this year.

Launching the taxi voucher scheme for free $10 cab chits for work Christmas parties, the creator of the scheme, says that its success is shown in local road statistics.

“In the 12 years that it’s been running, we’ve had on alcohol-related crashes above the legal limit, a 1.5 per cent decrease, which is significant in itself,” she said.

“But the amount of people, where their blood alcohol limit was below the .05 threshold, has dropped by 150 crashes over the last five years,” she added.

She said that this decrease proved the success of the scheme, whereby businesses go into a lottery for tickets for their work crews to get home safely from the traditional Christmas Party.

At this time of year, it is better not to drink anything and drive, local accident statistics for the past decade show, she added.

“We’ve had over 330 crashes of people with the legal amount of alcohol in their blood. These are people who have had only one or two drinks and are still getting into crashes.

“We are reducing the number of crashes with the illegal amount of alcohol, but what is more impressive, is the cutting of accidents for people with the legal limit.”

Alcohol, particularly for revellers at this time of year, can affect much more than just your response times and acuity, she added.

“It’s very important to understand, that every glass of alcohol can affect your driving,” Ms Hamilton Vaughan said.

“It also affects your judgement, you’re more confident, and this may lead you to take more risks.”

The $4000 worth of vouchers are provided through Transport NSW with the support of local cab drivers.

“It’s definitely working, a lot of businesses ring the Taxi Co-op and ask for the vouchers.

“The Taxi Co-operative and industry, all know how important this is, and that’s why they support it,” Ms Hamilton Vaughan said.

The publicity that the “Plan B” initiative generates, is just as valuable as the practical financial incentive not to drink and drive, she believes.

“It’s the evolution of a campaign that I started many years ago that this has come out of, but it’s not just to do with the vouchers.

There’s also the undoubted educational and promotional benefits of not drink-driving, with the dangers, particularly at this time of year,” she said.

Central West Police District Superintendent, Brendan Gorman said that this time of year is one of the greatest danger periods on our roads, particularly for those with alcohol in their blood.

“The Aim of ‘Plan B’, is simply to get yourself and your family, safely home.

“Because Christmas, New Year, are the biggest risk periods and the number of accidents does increase,” Supt Gorman added.

Orange Mayor, Councillor Jason Hamling encouraged everyone to think ahead, and catch a cab at Christmas.

“Plan B, is about people taking up the option of taxi vouchers at Christmastime, the police are the ones who have to deal with tragedies like accidents at this time of year — don’t drink and drive,” Cr Hamling said.

Darryl Curran from the Orange Taxi Co-op, said that in a regional centre like Orange, there’s no real excuses for not taking a cab if you’ve been drinking at a Christmas event.

“We have 28 cars on the road, most fares aren’t that far, and our average pick-up time is only six minutes from when you call,” he said.

Businesses can register their workplace for the draw to win vouchers at: www.orange.nsw.gov.au/road-safety/?tab=whats-your-plan-b