Drink drive offenders on the increase
Government anti-booze campaign fails as tipsy drivers get behind the wheel
IF THIS statistic doesn't send a chill down your motorcycling spine, nothing will.
During a clampdown over the festive period a staggeringly high 330 drunk or incapacitated drivers were caught behind the wheel.
Across just one month of big-effort sweeps by the police 9,148 were arrested for not being sober behind the wheel, in 2007 the amount was 7,800.
The figure accounts for around 5% of all UK drivers.
Chief Constable Mick Giannasi, of Gwent Police, the copper who looks after roads policing across England and Wales, said: "Drink and drug-drive collisions not only devastate the lives of victims and their families, but they also ruin the lives of the offenders. Alcohol and drugs can impair your ability to judge speed and distances, reduce concentration and delay reaction speed."
The news will be a big blow for the Department of Transport which spent £1.6m on the Christmas drink-drive campaign across the media.
So that was quite clearly money well spent.
Discuss this story
You can ruin someones life as long as you've paid the government their tax.  Every crushed car drops their income.
Posted: 28/01/2009 at 23:59
"During a clampdown over the festive period a staggeringly high 330 drunk or incapacitated drivers were caught behind the wheel. Across just one month of big-effort sweeps by the police 9,148 were arrested for not being sober behind the wheel, in 2007 the amount was 7,800. The figure accounts for around 5% of all UK drivers. " The above is from the article. What a load of bollocks 9148 drivers represents 5% of all UK drivers. This means there are less than 183,000 drivers in the UK at the moment 330 over the festive period is virtually nil, but then the figure is upped to 9148 for a whole month, so that means 330 happens everyday
Posted: 29/01/2009 at 00:04
I got bagged 30 years ago (first time) The publicity was all about losing your licence for a year. No one gave a toss. Now it's all about killing people. I will not drink/drive As an aside ,if 20% of RTA's are caused by drunk drivers then 80% are caused by sober drivers so statisticly you have less chance of having a crash if you're pissed.
Posted: 29/01/2009 at 01:39
"During a clampdown over the festive period a staggeringly high 330 drunk or incapacitated drivers were caught behind the wheel. Across just one month of big-effort sweeps by the police 9,148 were arrested for not being sober behind the wheel, in 2007 the amount was 7,800. The figure accounts for around 5% of all UK drivers. " The above is from the article. What a load of bollocks 9148 drivers represents 5% of all UK drivers. This means there are less than 183,000 drivers in the UK at the moment 330 over the festive period is virtually nil, but then the figure is upped to 9148 for a whole month, so that means 330 happens everyday
Yep, 5% is absolute nonsense, it's 'drugs with a street value of' daily mail statistics Assuming that the sample rate that were breathalysed was random, which it obviously wasn't and scaling it up is just cheap journalism at its worst Removes any credibility from the author and makes him sound like an idiot. Shame, as it's an important issue.
Posted: 29/01/2009 at 07:54
Drink Driving is one of my all time biggest hates. My best friend was killed by a drink driver when he was 16. Needless to say its something that makes my blood boil. If i go out and drive, i drink coke or lemonade, it aint difficult. Just having one, is pointless. If i go out for a drink, ill walk or get a lift. Always some people who think there better than they actually are. Well your not, you cant drive after 5 pints you fucking moron! You probably cant drive after a cup of tea!
Posted: 29/01/2009 at 08:31
Drink drive offenders on the increase
. . . because 0.8mg/100ml BAC is such a variable amount depending on circumstances and the individual. The only limit one can be sure of is 0.00mg/100ml.
Posted: 29/01/2009 at 08:57
Again Traffic cops numbers decline and they are replaced by speed cameras. When there was 10,000 plus traffic cops spending their evening, night and early morning day shifts actively looking for baggers they had a huge affect on the habits of drink drivers. The chances of seeing one these days is vitually nil.
Posted: 30/01/2009 at 18:51
Our place has just started doing the courses. Basically if you get caught, instead of going to court you pay £30 and come on to the alcohol course. Fail to attend then its back to court with more costs Im actually shocked how many attend. What will it take to get the msg into their thick skulls?? Wa*kers
Posted: 30/01/2009 at 19:23
"So that was quite clearly money well spent. " I don't get these sarky little comments at the end of some VD articles. Would the author prefer not to have any campaign at all then?
Posted: 30/01/2009 at 19:31
Trendy Journalism 101. Always end article with a throw away comment. This way all your readers will know just how intelligent you are and that you are a maverick. If done successfully, you will build a cult following, which will soon grow and your word will become law.
Posted: 30/01/2009 at 22:51
anyone caught drink driving should be banned for life, there is no excuse for it fucking danger to everyone. and anyone caught driving while banned should be shot The thing is that some people don't see the problem, that's the point... and if you're drinking illegally, you probably won't care about being banned, or having insurance. I don't know the answer but banning for life wouldn't always help. A very close family member of mine (since deceased through natural causes) was a gambling, alcolholic and had been done half a dozen times for drink driving. It came to a head when the inevitable happened - luckily for the poor girl driving the other car she was not seriously injured when he sailed across the rounadbout straight into her. Her car was written off, he was nearly killed and the young girl had her toddler in the back. Thank god they were OK. He was imprisoned in Chelmsford prison for 3 months. He was nearly 80 years old and had been hard drinking since his early teens. We in the family were relieved that finally he was inside and hoped that would be the end of it... the case made big news around the area... the local Essex paper started a series of pieces entitled "should this pensioner be jailed" and tried to run a campaign to have him let out depsite the fact that he was driving under a ban, no insurance, was so pissed he couldn't stand... he actually got letters of support ffs. Like I say, I dunno the answer but there are sections of society that actually don't see the problem and don't think that drink drivers should be prosecuted judging by some of the support he got! Beggars belief.
Posted: 31/01/2009 at 09:33
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