More motorists have admitted to driving while over the legal alcohol limit compared to the year before.
Department for Transport’s Reported Road Casualties annual report for 2015 reveals that 7.6% of drivers asked in a crime survey said they believed they had made the indiscretion at least once during the last 12 months; up from 6.2% in 2014/15. There are thought to be over 32M licence holders in Great Britain.
The figures also show there were 1730 road deaths in Great Britain last year, down 3% on 2014 and 45% down on a decade earlier.
Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety executive director David Davies said: “Drink drive deaths are still a major concern, as is reduced police enforcement. A new initiative is needed.”
He added that the drop in deaths in 2015 is welcome, but they went up in 2014 and there appears to be no clear trend in the number of fatalities over the past five years.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it is very worrying that the number of people admitting to being over the limit when driving has increased.
Head of road safety Kevin Clinton added: “And those are the people that are willing to admit to the offence – there may be others doing so but not being open about it."
The number of people getting behind the wheel when over the drink-drive limit should be zero, he continued. "Enforcement is extremely important as a deterrent, but we believe the drink-drive limit in England and Wales should be reduced to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, the same as it currently is in Scotland. This would deter people even more.”
He added: “We are pleased to see that fatalities and injuries have dropped since 2014, but the longer term trend seems to be showing stagnation, so they are not falling steadily as they were before 2011.”
Jacobs’ divisional director for traffic and safety Kate Carpenter added: “Drink driving is an issue, but so is mobile phone use at the wheel and the non use of seatbelts. There is also a wider issue of driver impairment, such as driving while tired, which seems to be more widespread and socially acceptable.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “The number of fatal drink drive incidents has more than halved in the last decade, but every death is a tragedy and we are determined to make our roads safer. We have tightened the law to make it easier to prosecute drink drivers and we continue to teach motorists about the dangers through our THINK! road safety campaigns.”
(Photo: West Modlands Police)
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