Killer drink drive crashes rise by a third after cuts to traffic police

THE number of fatal crashes caused by drink-drivers has risen at the fastest pace for more than 15 years, official figures indicated yesterday.

The startling increase prompted calls from safety campaigners for a fresh crackdown on the ‘menace of drinkdriving’ and fuelled concerns about a lack of ‘cops in cars’.

Based on reports from coroners, the Department for Transport estimated that 240 people were killed in 2016 in accidents where at least one driver was over the limit. This was up a fifth from 200 the previous year.

The number of fatal accidents involving a drink-driver shot up by 35 per cent from 170 to 230 – the biggest rise since 2000. In all, an estimated 9,050 were killed or injured by drink-drivers, up 7 per cent from 8,470 and the highest number since 2012. The total number of accidents where at least one driver was over the alcohol limit also rose by 6 per cent to 6,080.

The number of deaths and injuries involving drink-drivers has fallen dramatically over the past 40 years, with 1,640 killed in 1979.

But motoring campaigners suggested the recent rise may have been caused in part by a drop in the number of frontline traffic police officers. The number fell by nearly a third between 2007 and 2017 from 3,766 to 2,643.

RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams urged ministers to reduce the ‘forgiving’ alcohol limits for drivers, and to put more officers back on the road. ‘The police need to have the resources they need to robustly enforce the law and make our roads a safer place,’ he said.

A Dft spokesman said: ‘Britain has some of the safest roads in the world and fatalities have fallen by 44 per cent in ten years, but we are determined to do more.’

‘Need to robustly enforce the law’