Slight fall in drink drive offences in Northern Ireland
Thursday, April 07, 2022
New figures released by the Police Service of Northern Ireland show that 2,756 drink and drug drive offences were referred for prosecution in the Province last year.
This is a 11% fall on 2020, but experts are warning the numbers need to be viewed in the context of Covid lockdowns.
“Overall vehicle movements were significantly down in both years because of restrictions on work and social activities,” comments Hunter Abbott, managing director of personal breathalyser firm AlcoSense.
“Back in 2014 there were 2,800 drink and drug drive offences – so given the reduction in traffic, it’s difficult to see any downward trend at all.
“Studies show a steep rise in alcohol consumption at home during lockdowns, increasing the danger of ‘morning after’ drink driving.
“At the legal limit in Northern Ireland, you are 13 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than when sober – despite not breaking the law”.
But in a poll conducted by AlcoSense, over a third of motorists (36%) think their ability to drive is only impaired if they are actually over the legal drink drive limit.
The figures show that 81% of drink and drug drive offenders are male, with 30-49 year olds accounting for just over 50% of all recorded incidents. Nearly half of offences (46%) are committed on a Saturday or Sunday.
An earlier report on PSNI’s Christmas drink drive campaign showed that officers conducted 6,699 roadside breath tests last December.
Of those 6,699 tests, 4.6% (305 drivers) resulted in a fail or refusal to provide a sample. A total of 295 people were arrested, an increase of 5.4% compared with the previous year (280).
