Drink and drug driving arrests rise

01/08/11

Adam Blaxhall

There has been a rise in the proportion of drivers caught out by a breath test in the UK this year, figures show.

The Association of Chief Police officers (Acpo) revealed it stopped and tested 88,629 drivers throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland during June. Of those, 6.06% (5,373) either produced a positive result or refused to take the test during the period, up on the 5.6% caught over the same month on 2010.

And younger drivers were found to be the worst offenders, with 7.4% of those stopped under 25 testing positive, compared with a figure of 5.67% for drivers over 25.

Acpo's lead officer on roads policing, Chief Constable Phil Gormley, said: "It is worrying that younger drivers continue to drink and drive and we will be redoubling our efforts to address this unacceptable behaviour.

The drink and drug-driving campaign also increased the number of tests on motorists suspected of getting behind the wheel while on drugs, with 30% more field impairment tests conducted compared with last year.