Government Consultation – Drink driving

Whilst the Government report that drink driving offences continue to fall, nevertheless there are still those who continue to drink whilst driving and whose actions lead to many fatal accidents. In 1967 half of all road fatalities were associated with drink driving whilst by 2007 this had fallen to one sixth. However, data indicates that over 25% of drivers killed in road accidents were over the prescribed limit with 37% of those being more than two and a half times over the limit.

The Government therefore proposes a three strand plan:

• improve compliance with current limits, achieve more effective enforcement and manage high-risk offenders,
• continue providing advice, and
• collect more data.

The proposals specifically include:

Effective enforcement

Measures including

• The use of targeted checkpoint testing – involving the random stopping of motorists at drink-drive checkpoints
• Better breath testing – use of new breath-testing equipment which will collect more data about the driver and the carrying out of evidential breath testing elsewhere than at a police station – for example in hospitals and at the offender’s home
• Withdrawal of the right to require that a urine sample be taken in place of a breath test where the reading is no more than 50 mcg

Better management of offenders

The Government intend better to manage convicetd drink drivers including:

• improving the high-risk offender scheme which provides special measures to deal with drivers who have a high risk of drink driving, including those who are alcohol dependent or are repeat offenders.
• speeding up cases – and at the same time putting in place provisions so that high-risk offenders have to have medical reports before they can drive again after a disqualification
• the greater and more effective use of rehabilitation courses
• retesting disqualified drink drivers

Penalties

The Government plan to maintain and tighten various provisions including maintaining tough penalties for those convicted of drink-driving related offences and making sure that offenders do not use up their disqualification period whilst in prison.