POLICE in West Yorkshire launched the annual festive clampdown on drink and drug driving.
And they hope to see fewer drivers breaking the law by drinking.
The campaign, which runs throughout December, links to a national co-ordinated focus by all police forces to ensure drink driving enforcement is an increased priority as the Christmas party season gets underway.
Last year’s Christmas drink drive campaign resulted in 1,531 roadside breath tests being carried out in the county.
Of those, 15% (240) resulted in either a positive test or refusal to provide and an arrest being made.
Chief Insp Neil Hunter, Head of Roads Policing for West Yorkshire Police, said: “The Christmas campaign has run for a number of years and there is an increase in the number of breath tests carried out every December but there is a higher failure rate of about 20-25% during the rest of the year.
“This an encouraging sign that positive police action and awareness campaigns do have an effect on a driver’s decision to drive after drinking at Christmas time.
“We want anyone who has been drinking to stop and pause before considering driving and remember the significant financial cost of a drink driving conviction which can include loss of employment, increased or refused insurance and a heavy fine or prison sentence.
“The human cost imposed by drink drivers on their victims or their families can be life changing and cannot be measured.”
In addition to concentrating on identifying drunk drivers the campaign will also concentrate on the offence of driving after taking illegal drugs.
Chief Insp Hunter added: “The presence of illegal drugs may not always be as apparent as alcohol but for the drivers the offence carries the same penalties and potentially can lead to the same devastating consequences.
“We regularly receive information indicating that drivers take to the road after taking drugs and we will proactively identify these drivers and subject them to testing.
“Officers are trained to carry out impairment tests at the roadside which can provide the grounds to arrest and lead to formal testing for drugs back at the station.”
Another feature of the campaign is identifying the morning-after effect on drivers who have been drinking the previous night and still have levels of alcohol over the limit when they take to the road the next day.
Chief Insp Hunter said: “There may be a misconception that it is possible to easily sleep off the effects of drinking the previous night before driving again.”
People can ring Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 to report anyone you think is driving after drinking or taking drugs, their vehicle registration number and the places and times that they go drinking. This information will be passed to local officers to investigate.
