Drink-drive arrests soar across county
THE ANNUAL summer crackdown on over-the-limit drivers saw police arrest four offenders in Hinckley.
A further two were detained after failing a breathalyser while travelling through outlying villages.
The figures are roughly similar to last year’s June campaign which also saw four arrests in Hinckley while just one in the villages, specifically Stoke Golding.
However, the full total across the county caught by patrols has increased dramatically and over a shorter time period, from 46 over 35 days in 2016 to 62 over a month with two of those being motorists who were found to be high on drugs.
Last year no drug-related arrests were made.
The rise comes despite no major sporting event or celebrations taking place this June - it was the Euro football championships in 2016 which led to an extension of the operation into July.
Jonathan Clarkson, spokesman for the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Road Safety Partnership, said: “Despite our best efforts the dangers of drink and drug driving continue to be ignored by a stubborn minority of motorists. Worryingly, around a third of those arrested were younger drivers, which appears to be a growing trend with each of our campaigns.
“Along with the obvious dangers of putting both your life and the innocent lives of other people at risk, a conviction for drink-driving can affect your employment and may also prevent you from visiting countries such as the United States and Australia.”
Although the June campaign figures are higher than the same time last year they do correspond with average figures. In 2016 on average 65 drivers a month were arrested for drink driving.
Around a third of the arrests (24) were made following crashes, while 21 involved drivers aged 24 or under and 11 took place on the ‘morning after’ between 6am and noon - highlighting the dangers of under-estimating the effects of the previous night’s partying. Most of those caught were men.
Commenting on the high accident results, Mr Clarkson said: “As I understand it none of these collisions were particularly serious but the people involved were not in control of their vehicles and ended up going into lamp posts, hedges or stationary vehicles.
“That clearly demonstrates how alcohol or drugs affect your ability to drive and control your vehicle.”
In March this year a report from price comparison website Moneysupermarket. com pinpointed Hinckley and Bosworth is one of the worst areas in the country for drink and drug-driving offences.
Some 9.8 million car insurance quotes were analysed over a 12 month period to determine which areas in the UK had the highest proportion of drink and drugdriving convictions. Hinckley topped the list in Leicestershire with 1.52 convictions per 1,000 drivers.
The figure was 70% higher than the average conviction rate in Leicester (0.88) and 45% higher than the national average.
However, a spokesman for Moneysupermarket warned about directly comparing small population areas with larger ones.