Summer drink-driving campaign targets beer-garden drinkers
The ‘Drinking or driving this summer? Make the right choice’, police campaign is also focusing on people under the age of 25 – a group over-represented in drink drive figures.
In Derbyshire, where the campaign has been extended until the end of August, Crimestoppers has pledged to offer a reward of up to £1,000 for information leading to a drink-drive conviction.
Chief inspector Steve Wilson, head of roads policing at Derbyshire Constabulary said the likelihood of people drink-driving after spending an afternoon in a beer-garden was much higher in the summer months.
He explained: “Not everyone who is caught drink-driving has been out socialising, but a large percentage may have been. We have strong relationships with licensees throughout Derbyshire, and the posters will be visible in pub toilets and bar areas throughout the county.”
A similar campaign in Derbyshire last June resulted in a total of 460 breath tests, of which 120 were positive, refused or failed to provide a sample.
Wilson said getting people to shop drink-drivers had become a much more effective use of police officer time than random breath-testing.
“The posters have numbers for people to ring if they suspect people have been drink-driving. If they ring us, then we’ll take action.”
In 2011, 156 people under the age of 25 were either killed or seriously injured as a result of drink-driving, according to police figures. Drivers between the ages of 20 to 24 fail more breath-tests than any other age group.
