Drink-driving by young people on the back roads of Northern Ireland is much worse than official statistics show, according to a study by researchers at the University of Ulster.
To avoid detection many of them suck mint sweets, lie and even make a run for it. And nearly half of those questioned admitted they would do it again, the research team found.
The results shocked survey director Dr Banihan Gunay of the university's transport and road assessment centre.
"To our astonishment, more than half of our sample drove 10 miles or more while drunk. This means that, on average, they were on the road for about half-an-hour under the influence of alcohol," he said.
Some of the results, he said, were alarming and he called for local authorities to pay urgent attention to the study, which questioned 43 young motorists living in rural areas who admitted, confidentially, to drink driving.
Dr Gunay added: "Drink driving is a dangerous situation in Northern Ireland and this survey is intended as a pilot study which gives part of the picture.
The survey also revealed that: 43 per cent said they had changed their normal routes by taking back roads and country lanes in order to avoid being stopped by police; 74 per cent had carried passengers while they were over the limit; and 38 per cent had gone out with the intention of drinking.