Police satisfied as festive drink drive campaign catches just 85 motorists
8:30am Thursday 10th January 2013 in Latest News By Scott D'Arcy
85 drivers were arrested for breath tests during the festive drink-drive crackdown
A TOTAL of 85 drivers are now off the road after police caught them during the drink-drive annual Christmas crackdown.
The results of the Christmas drug and drink-driving campaign show 85 drivers were arrested for providing a positive breath test, refusing or failing to provide a test – the same as the previous year.
A total of 13 drivers were arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs while driving.
The campaign, which ran from December 1 to January 1, saw a total of 2,579 breath tests undertaken with a total of 85 drivers giving a positive test, refusing to give a test or failing to provide a test.
Fewer accidents and a hard- hitting message are what officers believe is behind the stagnation of the number of drivers testing positive for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Inspector Steve Cox, head of roads policing at Wiltshire Police, said: “Overall, these figures represent a productive and successful campaign.
“As a direct result of this crackdown, 85 drivers are now off our roads for being giving a positive breath test, refusing or failing to provide a breath test.
“Obviously 85 people is 85 too many, but I think the small numbers suggest drink-driving has become socially unacceptable. “For example, we also have a lot more reports from people who suspect someone of drink driving, so we are more intelligence-led.
“The number of collisions reported to Wiltshire Police in that month has fallen by 277 compared to the same period last year, which reduced the number of breath tests administered following collisions by 65 and the total number of those that were positive, refused or failed to provide fell by six.
“What I would like to make perfectly clear is that we have officers patrolling our roads throughout the year – not just over the Christmas period. “Drivers should not get complacent as we have team targeting those drivers who put themselves and others at risk by getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“Not only are there risks to other road users but a conviction for drink driving can affect their own livelihood, with disqualification impacting on getting to work, increased insurance premiums and of course the embarrassment.”
Anyone wishing to report someone for a driving offence, should contact Wiltshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, where information can be left anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Comments(8)
jerry59
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10:05am Thu 10 Jan 13
Davey Gravey
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10:13am Thu 10 Jan 13
Tim Newroman
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10:26am Thu 10 Jan 13
The Artist formally known as Grumpy Old Man wrote:It'll be MUCH higher than 3% over the Christmas period. Mainly people driving to work/home in the morning after a big night on the booze.
Extrapolating those figures, over 3% of the cars on the road over Christmas were over the drink drive limit. That seems pretty poor to me!
Still, the more bigger question - given that so many people are over the limit when they drive - relates to how many drivers who are involved in accidents are actually over the limit.
The reality is that vastly more drivers crash their cars whilst under the limit than over it, mainly because there are just so many abysmal drivers on our roads.
Hmmmf
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12:16pm Thu 10 Jan 13
MrAngry
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12:39pm Thu 10 Jan 13
The Artist formally known as Grumpy Old Man wrote:It would be reasonable to extrapolate the figures in this way if the breath tests were random and evenly distributed throughout the period, but they weren't.
Extrapolating those figures, over 3% of the cars on the road over Christmas were over the drink drive limit. That seems pretty poor to me!
A large proportion would have been taken following accidents, some where erratic driving was observed and the majority during times of the day when drivers are more likely to be over the limit.
The 3% figure is based on targeted not random tests.
Still too high though.
The Artist formally known as Grumpy Old Man
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2:42pm Thu 10 Jan 13
MrAngry wrote:You make a good point.
The Artist formally known as Grumpy Old Man wrote:It would be reasonable to extrapolate the figures in this way if the breath tests were random and evenly distributed throughout the period, but they weren't.
Extrapolating those figures, over 3% of the cars on the road over Christmas were over the drink drive limit. That seems pretty poor to me!
A large proportion would have been taken following accidents, some where erratic driving was observed and the majority during times of the day when drivers are more likely to be over the limit.
The 3% figure is based on targeted not random tests.
Still too high though.
However if the campaign targeted specific individuals rather than simple random stops, the drop in numbers could then be just as easily attributed to the quality of the police doing the stops.
After all, if the police weren't doing as good a job as they were the previous year, it's logical that they would catch less offenders.
Indeed, it could also be just that we were "luckier" this year with less accidents, and the true figure could be much, much higher (Try driving along the M4 regularly in the two weeks before Christmas and you'll realise just how many people are somewhat less than sober.
MrAngry
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2:50pm Thu 10 Jan 13
The police claim a victory every year. If the number failing the test falls, the police claim that the message is getting through and if the number rises they claim improved detection rates.
The public sector is bogged down with the collection and reporting of meaningless statistics.
The Artist formally known as Grumpy Old Man says...
9:05am Thu 10 Jan 13