Campaign urges summer drink drivers to leave car at home

Police officers are carrying out breath test

The latest Government anti-drink and drug driving message asking under 25s and day time drinkers to leave the car at home this summer is being echoed in Rochdale.

Figures show that in 2010, a total of 156 people under the age of 25 were killed or seriously injured in the UK as a result of drunk driving. In 2011 drivers aged between 20 and 24 failed more breath tests than any other age group.

In June 2012 more than 83,000 people were breath-tested during the UK wide campaign and nearly 5,000 of those failed.

The campaign also highlights the fact that driving the day after a night out can land drivers in trouble. In 2011, 730 drivers involved in a collision failed a breath test between the hours of 1pm and 6pm, more than double the amount of people who failed for the hour before or after midnight.

Rochdale’s casualty reduction officer, Stuart Howarth, said the rate of young drivers choosing to risk driving after a drink or some kind of recreational drug has steadily increased over the last few years.

He said: “It is appalling that in 2013 we still have to remind people not to drink and drive. To combat this Police we will be stopping and testing thousands more drivers throughout the summer months.

“We are all aware of the serious consequences drinking under the influence can lead too and Rochdale Council is doing its best via education provided to schools and colleges to inform this age group of the risk.

“These deaths are avoidable if drivers simply make the decision not to drink and drive, or make alternative arrangements to get home from summer time events.”

Portfolio holder for Highways and Regulation, Councillor Jacqui Beswick urged people to not take risks with their own lives and the lives of others.

She added: “Every summer police have to deliver devastating news to families after someone has been killed through drink or drug driving.

“If drivers who choose to risk either alcohol or drugs could take a step back think how their own family would react after being told their son or daughter had been killed, it may make them change their mind.”

The campaign also targets friends and family of drivers who can prevent a loved one getting into a car drunk after a barbecue or night out in the summer months.

The Government is currently testing a roadside test kit for drug drivers with the Home Office soon to introduce it to UK roads.

Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond MP said: “Drivers who get behind the wheel over the limit are a menace and anyone who does so this summer should be in no doubt that they risk losing their licence, as well as facing a fine and even a prison sentence.

“To make it easier for the police to tackle the problem and protect law abiding road users, we are streamlining enforcement and tightening the law so that drink drivers will have nowhere to hide.”