Port of Tilbury-Police Constable

[Fedster + 1,307]

UK drink-driving deaths are on the rise and drivers believe the chances of getting caught are low, according to a report by the European Union Transport Safety Council.

Date - 16th December 2019
By - Chloe Livadeas

The UK is bucking the European trend of reducing drink-driving deaths and the British public are one of the most likely to think they can get away with driving while over the legal limit, according to a report by the European Union Transport Safety Council.

The AA and the RAC both said there is likely to be a link between these findings and the reduction in the number of road traffic officers.

Jack Cousens, Head of Roads policy at the AA, said: “In the last decade we’ve seen the number specialist road traffic officers reduce by a third which meant that essentially those people drink driving think they can, and do, quite easily get away with it.”

Nicholas Lyes, Head of Roads Policy at RAC, said that because of the reduction of road traffic officers in the last decade, "enforcement is not as robust as it should be”.

Cyprus, Estonia, Belgium, Hungary, Sweden and Slovakia join the UK in falling behind the progress of tackling drink-driving deaths. The UK is also the country with the highest limit for drink driving at 0.8mg per 100ml.

Mr Cousen said the number of people who have excceeded the drink drive limit by a considerable margin is also causing concern. 

“Recent drink drive statistics from the Department for Transport showed a big spike this year in people who were double or more over the limit, so it’s important we tackle the hard-core drink driver more than anything,” he said.

The report, which was released this week, found on average that 22.5% of Europeans thought that, on a typical journey, they would be likely to be checked for drink driving by the police. In the UK it is just 12%.

In November 2016 the AA asked 20,000 drivers on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being no chance and 10 being certain) whether they thought a drink driver in their area was likely to be caught by police. 37 per cent said unlikely, mean they chose between one and four.

Mr Cousen said: “Few cops in cars means that people feel that they can take a chance by drink driving and the only way to reverse that is more cops in cars.”

The Department of Transport said in a statement: “As part of the Road Safety Statement, there is a greater focus on policing as part of a two-year joint project with the Home Office and National Police Chiefs’ Council. This will identify best practice and gaps in services to see how roads policing can be improved.”

A mitigating method that the report recommended was the use of Alcolock technology, which prevents a vehicle running until a breathalyser test is passed by the driver.

In the UK, all new car models from 2022 will have to have systems built into them so an Alcolock can be installed. This is off the back of advice from the European Council, but the UK is likely to continue to follow EU regulation in spite of Brexit in order to keep standards aligned with the block's vehicle industry.

A study commissioned by the European Commission's DG Move said Alcolocks were an “effective and cost beneficial improvement to road safety”.

It would not be mandatory to have an Alcolock installed in vehicles unless the government decided to make this the case.

Mr Lyes said such a system would most likely first apply to drivers of professional vehicles, such as trucks and lorries, or those who have been convicted of previous drink-driving offences.

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[BlueBob + 692]

TBH, I'm amazed its that high.  Living in a rural area, I doubt the figure is near to 1.2% let alone 12% think they will see a police vehicle let alone be stopped by one.

[SimonT + 1,185]

It's been raining drink drivers at the moment, we struggle to get to even the most obvious ones, even when people follow them. 

But we have 20000 officers incoming, so we should start clearing house 

[Byling * 4]

12% is probably an accurate number, so the survey isn’t as ‘shocking’ as the headline suggests. If anything, it’s most likely lower. 
 

There are sizeable towns that see Police probably once a week and certainly not on the lookout for it. Albeit increased over Festive period. The decimation of Roads Policing is criminal in itself. Yes, there is a great demand for violent crime and yes, there is a need to investigate Hate Crimes and the like. However, the risk of a drink/drug driver is greatly under-estimated as is the need for highly-skilled individuals who patrol our roads - particularly when it comes to pursuit authorisations and tactics. 
 

Which department has its headcount slashed? You got it.....

[Zulu 22 + 4,574]

Bring on the 88% who would be like rabbits transfixed in the headlights. Problem is we need the officers, especially Traffic Officers to bring these extremely irresponsible and dangerous drivers to book.

[Beaker 817]

Seems about right.  People have no fear of getting caught in many areas these days.  The rural areas near me are rife with it, but there just aren't the people to actually do much about it.  Everyone is busy with other jobs!

[IrateShrike + 1,847]

I keep hearing people talk about how drink driving is becoming increasingly unacceptable in society, but my own anecdotal and 'seat of the pants' feeling is that it is definitely becoming more common.