Police hope children will shame drink-drive motorists

A YORKSHIRE police force has turned to children as young as seven to try to hammer home the perils of drink-driving after dozens of motorists were caught over the legal limit during the festive season.

The youngsters have been drafted in by North Yorkshire Police to appear on a video which has been launched to mark the halfway point of the county’s Christmas drink and drug-driving campaign.

Since the campaign began two weeks ago, 56 motorists have been arrested in the county on suspicion of drink or drug-driving offences.

Traffic Sergeant Andy Morton said: “It comes to something when children as young as seven have to explain to adults why driving under the influence of drink or drugs is wrong. We produced this video to show how simple this concept is to understand – if you drink or drug drive, you could get arrested, or worse, you could seriously hurt someone.

“Unfortunately we’ll arrest scores of people this Christmas who aren’t as smart as a sevenyear-old and will fail to grasp this.”

The campaign, which was launched on December 9, is urging motorists to do a good deed this Christmas by volunteering to be a designated driver for family, friends and colleagues.

This includes on nights out and the morning after, when North Yorkshire Police officers have caught drivers who are still over the limit.

Twenty of the 56 motorists who have been arrested in North Yorkshire have been charged, with investigations continuing in other cases while test results are analysed and other inquiries are carried out.

The most arrests have been made in the Harrogate and Scarborough districts, with 15 motorists arrested in each area.