Image: Poliisi

Three-quarters of respondents to a Finnish traffic safety survey said they would report a relative to police in order to prevent the relative from driving drunk, according to the Finnish Road Safety Council, Liikenneturva.

But the threshold for contacting authorities about a stranger's drunk driving was lower, the survey found. Nine out of ten respondents said they would contact police to keep intoxicated people they do not know to prevent them from getting behind the wheel, the survey found.

Nearly unanimous

Out all of the roughly 1,000 people polled, nearly everyone said they think it is important for their relatives to avoid riding in a car driven by someone under the influence.

The safety council said that while drunken driving statistics have gone down in recent years, alcohol continues to be a significant risk factor for drivers, particularly young ones.

Some 40 percent of drink driving accidents that led to injury involved young drivers, according to Liikenneturva's contact manager Tapio Heiskanen.

"In a group of [young] friends the threshold for taking the car keys from a drunken friend can seem high. [But] one can and should intervene. The friend will surely appreciate the effort too once he or she has sobered up," Heiskanen said.

About 90 percent of respondents said they would like to see breathalyser 'alcolocks' installed in vehicles to help prevent drunken driving, as well.

According to Statistics Finland 2015 figures, the number of alcohol-related accidents which led to personal injury was 505, some 30 fewer than the year before.

A total of 57 people died and 569 people were injured in drunken driving accidents in 2015, while in the previous year, the corresponding figures were 41 fatalities and 576 injured individuals.