Cumbria Constabulary’s recent drink and drug drive campaign has highlighted that motorists continue to drive under the influence and put themselves and others at serious risk.
Police officers target drink and drug drivers throughout the year; however in June there is a national campaign to target those who drive under the influence. This also provides officers with an insight into trends and attitudes toward drink driving.
Cumbria Constabulary kicked off their campaign on 1 June 2011 with help from students from William Howard School, Brampton, who had produced a short film highlighting the consequences of drink driving.
This year, 67 people were arrested after officers conducted 880 breath tests during the campaign which ran until 31 June 2011, meaning eight percent of those tested were either over the limit or failed to provide a test.
Of the 67 people caught over the limit in June 2011, 14 followed road traffic collisions demonstrating the serious consequences of driving while impaired by alcohol. Twenty three of those who tested positive were under 25-yrs old and 44 were older, showing that a respect of the law does not necessarily come with age.
In 2010, 95 arrests were made after 952 breath tests, meaning less that ten percent of those tested were either over the limit or failed to provide a test, and in 2009, 88 arrests were made after 1434 breath tests, meaning six percent of those tested were either over the limit or failed to provide a test.
During this year’s campaign, there was an increase in the use of Field Impairment Tests to detect those drivers who were driving whilst under the influence of drugs. Of the six tests which were carried out, five people were found to be driving under the influence of drugs and were arrested.
Chief Inspector Kevin Greenhow who heads up the Roads Policing Unit in Cumbria said: “I hope that this decrease indicates that less people are driving whilst under the influence. However, it is still clear that a significant number of people in Cumbria continue to think it is acceptable to get behind the wheel while they are over the drink drive limit or under the influence of drugs.
“Over the years there has been a steady decrease in the number of drivers who police suspect are driving over the limit – which explains why numbers of breath tests have reduced slightly. On one hand this is positive but the consistent numbers of positive readings could suggest that we are just getting better at identifying the signs and targeting the right motorists.
“The students at William Howard School worked incredibly hard to get the message across about the consequences of drink driving and throughout the campaign and we have been publicising the film on our website and on social networking sites to spread this message across the county. However it is clear that some people continue to ignore the risks.
“We will continue to target those who choose to put their own lives and the lives of others in danger by driving under the influence. Our aim is to continue to educate people about the consequences of drink and drug driving and ask that the community continue to be vigilant against those who try to drink and drive.”
Reports from the public are important when they suspect someone to be driving under the influence, which was recently highlighted after the public contacted Cumbria Constabulary on 22nd June 2011, to report a white caravanette driving at 30 mile per hours on the M6 and weaving over the road. The responding officer, PC Currie, travelled to the location and met a tail back of slow moving traffic. Cars, driven by members of the public, had placed themselves in all three lanes of the motorway to protect the caravanette and prevent an accident.
When PC Currie went to stop the vehicle, it drove onto the embankment and then off onto the hard shoulder. The driver was David McIntosh, aged 41 from Ayrshire. He appeared to be very drunk and when a road side breath test was conducted, he was 4 times over the legal limit.
He was arrested and detained for Court, where he appeared on 23rd June 2011 and was immediately banned for 5 years and will have to retake his test to obtain his licence.
PC Richard Currie said: “This is an example of the positive, immediate action taken after we received information from members of the public. We will always encourage people to contact us when they suspect someone to be driving under the influence.
“We would urge any member of the public with suspicions about a drink-driver to contact the police, in the same way they would about any other crime.”
If you suspect someone to be driving while under the influence, please contact police on 0845 33 00 247.
No comments:
Post a Comment