The number of people killed in road accidents where the driver was over the drink drive limit has risen 45% in two years.
Provisional figures released by the Department for Transport on 14th of February, estimate there were 290 deaths in 2017 compared with 200 in 2015.
There were 230 fatalities in 2016 – so the annual increase is 26%.
Hunter Abbott, Managing Director of breathalyser firm AlcoSense and member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) comments: “I believe this shows a clear correlation between cuts in Police budgets and increased drink-drive deaths.
“With fewer numbers and stretched resources, the Police can only do so much. Combined with the highest drink drive limit in the developed world, it’s proved to be a lethal mixture.
“At the English limit you are 13 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than when sober – five times more likely at the lower Scottish limit*
“The latest data from the European Transport Safety Council shows UK Police now carry out fewer breath tests per 1000 inhabitants than any other country in Europe that records this data.
“A two-pronged approach of better enforcement and lowering the drink drive limit could save many lives each year”.
* Drugs and Alcohol: Their Relative Crash Risk, Romano et al. Published January 2014 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol Drugs. Page 6, Table 6, BAC Model 1, Average of the odds of all age ranges at 0.01%BAC blood alcohol content (1.45 + 1.37 + 1.29)/3 = 1.37), expressed as a percentage of 37% increase in likelihood.
