Drink-drive campaigns questioned

23/01/12

By Steven Birch

Road safety campaigners have questioned whether the anti-drink-drive methods used so far have gone far enough after research revealed that young motorists remain the worst offenders.

The Association of Chief Police Officers revealed that there were 7,200 arrests made during the Christmas and New Year crackdown, which lasted from December 1 to January 1.

Meanwhile, there were 157,000 drivers stopped and tested overall during that time in England and Wales.

In light of the results, Neil Greig, from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) pointed out that young people have a 5.7 per cent rate of offending, compared to 4 per cent of those aged 25 and over.

"Our research shows that half of young drivers don't know how much they can drink and still be under the limit, so the message is not getting through to them," he said.

"This suggests that lack of education and confusion over safe limits in today's drinking culture of huge glasses and ever changing alcoholic mixes may be a key factor in drink-driving, especially for this age group."

During the festive crackdown on drink-drive offenders, officers from 43 forces completed round-the-clock tests on drivers.