Number of drink-drive cases near 2020 record

A total of 69 people were charged with the offence in 2021 compared to 67 to the end of last week so far this year. The 2020 figure was 80.

Roads policing inspector Tom Marshall said it was virtually impossible to say how many people would still risk driving after drinking alcohol, but tackling it remained a police priority.

The most common forms of detection were proactive policing, road traffic collisions, and people calling police to ‘shop’ suspected drink-drivers, he said.

‘The general public are very supportive,’ he said. ‘I think they understand the dangers of drink-driving and their moral obligation to report it is heightened as a result.

‘People who have never called the police are more likely to pick up the phone and report a drink-driver than they are for anything else, and we’re always grateful for their help.’

Callers would often say that they had concerns over the safety of others.

People often made bad decisions when drinking and one of those was to jump in their motor vehicles.

‘We would always encourage people to find other forms of transport when they have been drinking,’ said Inspector Marshall.

The Christmas drink-drive campaign would be starting soon, though Inspector Marshall said policing drink-driving took place throughout the year.

The drink-drive limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath or 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

The rate at which the body absorbs alcohol depends on a number of factors, such as sex and weight, meaning there is no foolproof way of drinking and staying under the limit.

Last week two drink-drivers were jailed by the Magistrate’s Court after admitting the offence – one was four-and-a-half times the limit and the other three-and-half times.