Crackdown catches 137 drink and drug-drivers

MORE than 130 motorists were arrested by police during December’s annual crackdown on drink-driving and drug-driving.

Official figures just released show police arrested 109 drinkdrivers between December 1 and January 1.

Another 28 were caught driving while under the influence of drugs over the same period.

The figures are down from 155 over the December 2018 period.

Jonathan Clarkson, spokesman for the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Road Safety Partnership, said the numbers were still disappointing.

“Although the number of people arrested this time is lower than December 2018, which saw 122 drink and 33 drug-drivers detained by the roadside, 137 people have still taken the risk to drive while they are unfit behind the wheel, despite our continued warnings.”

Closer analysis of the figures showed that:

■ 35 arrests were made following a road traffic collision.

■ One of the highest roadside breath tests recorded has been 153 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath. The limit is 35 micrograms, making the driver well over limit.

■ 69 of the arrests have been in Leicester city, 66 across Leicestershire and two in Rutland.

While the limit for drink-driving is applied equally and strictly to everyone, it is impossible to say exactly how many drinks this equals as it is different for each person.

This is because the way alcohol four times the legal affects you depends on various factors. These include your weight, age, sex and metabolism (the rate your body uses energy); the type of alcohol; what you’ve eaten and your stress levels.

NHS advice says there’s no safe way to calculate how many units you can consume and stay below the limit, so the only way to stay legal is to avoid alcohol altogether.