In a campaign running from December 1st to January 1st police officers in England and Wales breathalysed 157,000 drivers which lead to more than 7200 arrests.

The increase has lead to concern that drink and drug-driving campaigns are not effective enough.  In particular young drivers showed an increase with 5.7  giving positive results in comparison to 4% of over-25s.

In the UK, the alcohol limit for drivers is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, 35mg per 100ml of breath although police forces would encourage a “none for the road” attitude for drivers. Deputy Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police Suzette Davenport commented “Even just the one drink can significantly impair your judgement and for that reason I recommend drivers don’t drink alcohol and drive.”

Higher alcohol prices curb drinking.

The relative cost of alcohol as a proportion of income has been declining steadily for over 50 years and is now only a fraction of what it was in real terms in the years following the Second World War. This trend has been matched by an almost unbroken rise in consumption per capita of alcohol here in the UK over the same period of time. Despite this, successive governments have shied away from linking duty on alcohol to affordability and have been willing to forgo the revenue this would have raised. Meanwhile consumption in other parts of Europe has declined by as much as two thirds in some countries over the same period of time. It is only recently as a result of mounting public concern over the impact alcohol abuse is having on society, partly as a result of an ever increasing body of evidence to this effect, that government is considering a minimum pricing policy. In the Scotland this is already going ahead and south of the boarder consultations with interested parties and agencies are ongoing.

Advocates of this measure will have been encouraged by the findings of the latest research on this topic, recently published by the Centre for Addictions Research in British Colombia, Canada, where analysis on minimum pricing and alcohol sales in British Colombia shows a clear link between variations in price fixing and sales. Here price hikes of 10 percent in the prices of alcoholic beverages led consumers to drink 3.4 percent less than they otherwise would have, with consumption of certain types of alcohol falling even more.

Using data for the period 1989-2010 the researchers found that for every 10 percent increase in the minimum price of an alcoholic drink, consumption of spirits and liqueurs fell by 6.8 percent, wine by 8.9 percent, alcoholic sodas and ciders by 13.9 percent and beer by 1.5 percent.

With this link clearly established alcohol pricing is likely to play an ever increasing role in government health policy in years to come.

Scottish drivers ignore festive period drink driving campaign.

According to figures released on the 4^th of January - in spite of the usual high profile media campaign warning against the dangers of drink-driving - this season drivers in Scotland appear to have disregarded this advice, with a 12 percent increase in the number in the number of people caught over the limit behind the wheel. This despite recent changes in the law allowing the authorities to permanently confiscate the vehicles of guilty drivers.

Affected numbers rose to 478 drivers during the annual crackdown on drink drivers, an average of 17 a day. In addition the number of motorists found to be under the influence of drugs behind the wheel rose by 44 per cent on last year. One hundred and four of these drivers will now have their cars either sold or crushed, depending on their value.

Condemnation of this news has been widespread and included the following comments by the Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill who said driving under the influence of alcohol was “reckless”, “totally unacceptable” and was “putting lives at risk”, as he promised that the Scottish Government would not let up on drink drivers.

The government, through the Department of Transport, is appointing a panel of experts composed of academics and scientists to look into the possibility of changing the law on drug-driving. Their goal will be to establish whether or not a revised law could be implemented in the same way as the drink-driving law is enforced at present.

The demand for this from safety campaigners and other interested parties arises out of mounting evidence of drugs being a contributing factor in a significant number of non fatal and fatal road accidents. This includes evidence of consumption of illegal drugs on their own, in combination with legal drugs and finally in combination with alcohol. The impact of legal substances is also under scrutiny.

At present motorists can be charged with being unfit to drive as a result of being under the influence of drugs. However in the absence of any equivalent tool to the breathalyser, adequate proof of consumption is relatively difficult to obtain and means prosecutions are rare. As things stand the law relies on, arguably, fairly subjective impairment tests to determine a subject’s capacity to drive. These include counting to thirty, walking forwards and backwards in a straight line for nine paces, and touching finger to nose with eyes closed. If after this the police have reasonable grounds to suspect drug use this needs to be confirmed by a doctor before the requisite blood test can be performed. In practical terms this can take a significant period of time and given the limited window of detection of a blood test, by the time an analysis is performed evidence of consumption may no longer be obtainable.

There are many tests available capable of determining whether an illegal substance has been consumed at some point in the last few hours or days. One of the challenges the authorities would face is selecting a test which not only confirms recent consumption but which is also able to determine whether a subject, at the time of being stopped, is still under the influence of the substance in question. Tests of this kind already exist, are the subject of continuing development, and are in use abroad by some police forces. The State of Victoria in Australia can tests drivers at the roadside for MDMA (methamphetamine found in speed and crystal meth) and THC, the active component in cannabis. In the UK the dugs the Department of Transport is theoretically interested in testing for are cocaine, MDMA, cannabis and opiates. However the presence of certain combinations of legal substances and alcohol, even within legal limits is also a concern.

Given that most of the substances in question are illegal anyway many interested parties favour a zero tolerance policy should consumption be established regardless of the impact on driving ability.

Andrew Howard, head of road safety at the AA, said:

“The big question is – how can you talk about an acceptable level of something that’s illegal to possess? If it’s zero, then you have a law that’s about the use of a substance and not driving. Our members are definitely in favour of a law that affects you if you’re impaired, and 75% want it to be zero tolerance.”

This view was echoed by Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation who said: “There is no doubt that drug-driving is a very big and growing problem, particularly when combined with drink. Reliable screening devices are being developed and it is hoped approved equipment will soon provide legally acceptable proof of drug-driving.

“The RAC Foundation believes there is also a strong case for a law which sees motorists detected driving with illegal drugs in their system penalised, without impairment itself having to be proved.”

He said official statistics showed more than 1,000 accident casualties yearly were due to drugs and that this was “thought to be an under-estimate”.

Its seems that some drivers in Northern Ireland are taking the term “festive cheer” too literally. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have released figures that show a significant increase in drink driving cases.  In the period between 25th November and 18th December, 250 drivers were caught, 28 more than the same period last year. The figures take into consideration those who are unfit or unable  to drive aswell as those unwilling to give a sample.

Commenting on these figures Head of Road Policing, Superintendent Muir Clark said ” “There is absolutely no excuse for this. Every year across Northern Ireland, drinking and driving kills, maims and wrecks families.”

In the UK, the alcohol limit for drivers is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, 35mg per 100ml of breath or 107mg per 100ml of urine. Northern Ireland’s environment minister Alex Attwood recently has outlined his proposal to reduce the drink drive limit in the country by almost half.

The clear message from all police forces is for drivers to think before they drink and get behind the wheel.

Roads Safety Minister Mike Penning confirmed today that the Government will be launching a Think! anti drink-drive campaign to target drink-driving over the festive period. The campaign is being run in conjunction with Coca-Cola and aimed towards men aged 17-29.

The initiative will offer buy-one-get-one free deals for designated drivers on the soft drink and will be available in 8,000 licensed premises.  The aim is to make young men think twice before drinking and getting behind the wheel.

In the UK, the alcohol limit for drivers is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, 35mg per 100ml of breath or 107mg per 100ml of urine.