The news that young drivers fared the worst during the annual police crackdown on drink driving over the Christmas period has been met with concern by road safety campaigners.
Figures released this week by the Association of Chief Police Officers showed drivers under the age of 25 failed a disproportionate number of roadside breath test over the festive period. A total of 28,228 under-25s were tested during the December 2014 crackdown, with 1,788 – or 6.33 per cent – either giving a positive breath reading or refusing/failing to provide a specimen. This compares poorly to a failure rate of just 3.94 per cent amongst drivers aged over 25, of whom 102,555 were tested, with 4,042 failing.
Fewer roadside breath tests were administered during the 2014 campaign, falling from 191,040 in 2013 to 133,996 last year, as a result of the police adopting a more “intelligence-led” approach. Despite this, the latest campaign saw a leap in the overall number of positive tests amongst under-25s, up from 1,675 in 2013 to 1,788 last year. In contrast, the number of over-25s who failed a roadside breath test fell from 4,482 in 2013, to 4,042 during last year’s campaign.
Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said responded to the figures by sayin: "What is worrying is the number of young people who are driving while under the influence of alcohol. Around 250 people are killed in drink-drive accidents every year and it is not just the drivers who suffer, but often their passengers, people in other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists, and the families of everyone involved."
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