Drink Driving On The Rise, as Traffic Cops Become Part of History

Anyone who drives regularly in the UK will know two things; one, the number of drivers merrily travelling around in vehicles without tax, an expired MoT or no valid insurance is increasing, and two, there are very few traffic Police patrolling UK roads, except on motorways. We would guess that on a typical weekday evening  there are more traffic cops visible on re-runs of Road Wars, than on the streets of a medium sized town.

Another knock-on effect from that lack of basic road policing is that drivers who like a drink, or recreational drugs, at the weekend, are far more likely to get behind the wheel. They figure the odds of being caught are fairly low and so your hardcore drinkers carry on regardless, until some terrible accident occurs – in fact the number of fatal road accidents involving a drunk driver is at an eight-year high.

What can be done, apart from purchasing 1000 new patrol cars, hiring 3000 officers to use them in shifts, and building two new prisons to house the repeat drink/drug driving offenders? Very little it would seem. Apart from the usual platitudes, there were NO concrete proposals from the government today as the latest stats were revealed. The MSM reported that the government are `developing evidential roadside test kits.’

Not much use if there are no Police officers to stop and perform the said tests, is it?

Insurance Edge thinks the propblem is going to get worse, before it gets fundamentally better. The sad truth is that government and senior Police alike are waiting for car makers to develop driverless cars, so that the problem simply goes away over time, as all the older vehicles will then be taxed/legislated off the roads.

In the meantime, more lives will be lost. 

RAC REACTION

Following the publication of new data that shows there has been no discernible fall in the numbers of fatal collisions caused by drink drivers since 2010, RAC head of policy Nicholas Lyes said:

“These figures are disappointing and show that much more needs to be done to eradicate the scourge of drink-driving. The data shows that no discernible progress has been made for nine years in reducing the number of people killed in road traffic collisions where at least one driver was over the legal drink-drive limit.

“The Government should be looking closely at all its options, even reviewing the drink-drive limit. But ultimately, it is absolutely vital that we have police enforcing laws and increasing roadside breathalyser testing so that law breakers know they will be caught.”