Festive drink-drive crackdown saw 21 arrested

Ten of those people were stopped as a result of proactive police checks, six were involved in RTCs, and five were called in by members of the public.

Bailiwick Law Enforcement said the numbers were higher than expected, and very disappointing.

Roads Policing Inspector Tom Marshall said it was important people understood that drink-driving was unacceptable.

‘If people are going out to drink, have a plan about how you are going to get out, and how you are going to get home, that doesn’t involve your car,’ he said.

‘Drink-driving continues to be dangerous, and although during this period we haven’t seized any vehicles, it remains an option to us in any serious cases that arise. We will continue to deal robustly with drink-driving during 2021, and those that chose to do so will be caught, and will be dealt with appropriately by the courts.’

Drug & Alcohol Strategy co-ordinator Andrea Nightingale said: ‘We want to obviously prevent as much drink-driving as we possibly can, but also look at the re-offending side of it.

‘We know that drink-drivers will continue driving if they aren’t caught, so there may be measures such as ignition locks that can go on to vehicles if you have been convicted of a drink-driving offence, and those might be some things that we have to look at implementing during 2021 and in the future if we cannot get the number of drink-drivers down.’