49 drink-drive accidents a day on region’s roads
DRINK-DRIVING has been slashed across the North West – yet there are still around 49 accidents on the region’s roads each day.
Experts say the figures are encouraging but there are still too many incidents.
The number of incidents related to drinkdriving fell in the north west from 18,554 in 2015 to 17,724 the following year.
The four per cent reduction is the third biggest decrease in the country, after the North East and East Midlands, according to the latest Department of Transport data.
However, there is still an average of 49 accidents involving drink-drivers in our region every day.
Greater Manchester Police arrested 152 people for drink and drug-driving offences over the Christmas and New Year period as part of its ‘None for the Road’ campaign.
A total of 923 drivers were breathalysed or drug-tested during December.
Of those, 140 were arrested for being over the legal drink-drive limit and 12 were arrested after testing positive for drugs.
Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service dealt with 124 road traffic collisions, around 30 a week, over the festive period.
Commenting on the latest GMP figures, Chief Inspector Tariq Butt, who leads the forces Traffic Unit, warned that police will remain vigilant as they work to tackle drinkdriving.
He said: “Results from the Christmas and New Year operation highlight that the ‘None for the Road’ message has made an impact. However, the figures do not represent the significant drop in drink and drug-driving arrests that we would like to see across Greater Manchester.”
Across England, there were 166,837 car accidents involving a driver who had been drinking – a decrease of 1.7 per cent on the previous year.
But at a national level there were still almost 460 car accidents every day involving a driver who had been drinking in 2016.
Drivers in accidents where drinking was involved were most likely to be aged between 40 and 49.
Young drivers, aged between 20 and 24, appear to have become better drivers – 1,826 were involved in drink-driving incidents in the region in 2016, down from 2,091 the previous year.