Driver over limit 3 times in 8 days

ALMOST 570 motorists were caught driving while under the influence during a festive crackdown by police.

Officers stopped 15,771 drivers and 567 tested positive for drink or drugs – one in 28.

This compares with 625 drivers during the same period last year.

One woman was caught over the limit three times in eight days by Highlands and Islands officers.

She has been banned from the road pending a court appearance.

A foreign HGV driver was found to be three times the limit in the Highlands and Islands, while a Paisley taxi driver was two-and-a-half times the limit. The cabbie, who was carrying passengers, was stopped after he ran a red light.

In Falkirk, a man who hit two parked cars tried to run away from officers. He passed out after being arrested and was taken to hospital.

A man slumped over the wheel of a car in Tayside was found to be more than seven times the limit. He was also reported to the procurator fiscal for having no licence and insurance, and taking the car and driving away without the owner’s permission. Also in Tayside, the driver of a car which crashed on Boxing Day failed a roadside test.

An average of 417 drivers were breathalysed every day during the four-week drink and drug blitz, with 39 caught the morning after – down from last year’s figure of 46.

The number of vehicles seized was 48 – the same as last year. Those caught between the new alcohol limit of 22mg per 100ml of breath and the old limit of 35mg dropped from 57 to 18.

Chief Superintendent Stewart Carle, head of road policing, said: ‘There remains a hardcore of drivers who continue to risk their lives and the lives of others by drink/drug driving... there is no safe limit for alcohol or drugs if you are going to be driving. Don’t risk it.’

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: ‘Those who have failed drink- drive tests will face a minimum 12-month driving ban, a criminal record for a lengthy period and a substantial fine.’