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Drink drive - time for a rethink?
The rise in the number of offenders detected during the Christmas 2005 period appears to confirm that drink driving is a growing problem - especially among young drivers.
In Scotland, 620 motorists were caught over the limit, or refused to give a breath test, during the first three weeks of the campaign - a rise of almost 10% on the previous year (http://news.bbc.co.uk).
The Scottish National Party (SNP) wants the limit to be cut from 80 milligrams in an attempt to tackle the growing problem of young drink-drivers. SNP MSP Stewart Maxwell said the number of under-21s convicted for drink driving between 1996 and 2002 had risen by 38%.
The current drink-driving limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, but most other European countries have limits of 40-50 milligrams.
The SNP's deputy health spokesman expressed concern at the 'alarming increase' in the number of under-21s convicted. "Times have changed and there is a whole new generation of drivers who are now on Scotland's roads," he said.
He added that one in six deaths on Scotland's roads is a direct result of drink driving, and the problem is particularly bad over holiday periods like Christmas.
The number of people arrested in Dorset increased by 36% - from 136 in the first four weeks of December 2004 to 185 during December 2005, according to Dorset Police (http://news.bbc.co.uk).
Police warned people not to accept lifts from drivers who had been drinking. "How often do we hear of horrific crashes where young people have died, not at the hands of a stranger, but at the hands of a so-called friend who chose to drive after drinking alcohol." said Chief Inspector Rick Dowell.
In the first 21 days of December, police in Avon and Somerset arrested 184 drink drivers - 24 more than during the same period last year. Of those, 103 were under the age of 30, 31 were women and 153 were men (http://news.bbc.co.uk).
The region's drink drive campaign was named Operation Relentless. "The number of arrests shows that we are taking a relentless approach towards catching those who are making our roads dangerous," said Superintendent Lawrie Lewis.
Sussex police expressed 'disappointment' with the results of its campaign. Up to 18 December, 65 drivers were arrested after positive breath tests and six more for being unfit through drugs (http://news.bbc.co.uk).
In the Isle of Man the number of people caught drink driving is the highest for three years. 16 drivers have been arrested during the annual Christmas campaign, which began on 5 December (http://news.bbc.co.uk).
Inspector Mike Ward, of the Isle of Man Constabulary, said the number of people caught had risen even though officers were carrying out the same number of stops. 11 people have now been charged compared with nine in 2004, and two more have been bailed pending further enquiries.
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