Government figures show between 230 and 270 people were killed in drink-driving accidents over the course of 2017
The number of people killed in drink-driving accidents has hit an eight-year high, while the number of screening breath tests carried out has fallen 62 per cent in the same period.
Newly released Government figures suggest there were between 230 and 270 drink-drive fatalities in 2017 with a central estimate of 250. Not only is this the highest figure recorded since 2009, but it’s also an 8.7 per cent increase from 2016’s figure of 230 and 25 per cent more than the 200 deaths that occurred in 2015.
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In the same eight-year period from 2009 to 2017, the number of screening breath tests carried out by police has fallen 62 per cent from 180,437 to 63,398. Meanwhile, the number of roadside breath tests conducted in England and Wales fell to 325,887 in 2017 – 15 per cent less than the 381,746 carried out in 2016.
In spite of the rise in deaths, the total number of casualties – including deaths and injuries of all severities – in accidents where one or more driver was over the drink-drive limit decreased five per cent year-on-year in 2017 to 8,600. Around five per cent of reported casualties on in UK road accidents in 2017 involved a drink-driver.
In addition, the total number of accidents involving one or more drink-drivers fell six per cent in 2017 to 5,700, making up four per cent of all reported road traffic accidents that year.
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Hunter Abbott, managing director of AlcoSense, called for harsher and more strictly enforced drink-driving laws to be implemented, saying: “A two-pronged strategy of better enforcement, plus a drink drive limit across the UK in line with the rest of Europe, could save many lives each year.”
Edmund King, president of the AA, added: “What is most concerning is that there continues to be a hardcore of drink drivers, where more than two fifths of those failing breath tests are more than twice over the limit.
“As well as needing more cops in cars to catch people in the act, the ultimate responsibility lies with drivers themselves. Put simply, if you are going to drink, don’t drive and if you are going to drive, don’t drink.”
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