Action call over road injury toll
Drink driving was linked to neatly a dozen road crashes resulting in death or injury in Sunderland last year, new figures reveal.
Road safety charity Brake called the persistence of dangerous behaviour on the roads "deeply concerning" and renewed calls for a zero-tolerance stance on drink and drug driving.
Department for Transport data shows drivers or riders impaired by alcohol contributed to 10 crashes in the city last year. The figures, which report contributory factors for incidentsasrecordedbypolice, also show people affected by illicit or medicinal drugs.
In total, 113 incidents recorded in Sunderland had contributory factors in 2019
– alcohol was linked to 9% of these, while impairment through drugs was reported in 4%.
The most common contributory factor in the city was drivers and riders not looking properly, listed in 27% of incidents, followed by failing to judge another person's path or speed (13%) and a pedestrian failing to look properly (12%).
Different figures show 10 people were killed and 111 seriously injured on the area's roads last year, compared to three deaths and 89 serious injuries in 2018.
Total casualties, which include slight injuries, rose from 529 to 542 over the period.
A driver or rider could be marked as being impaired by alcohol or drugs if police believe their behaviour directly contributed to the accident.
The Scottish Government reduced the alcohol limit for drivers from 80mg per 100 millilitres of blood to 50mg in December 2014, but the legal level in the rest of the UK remains 80mg.
Joshua Harris, Brake's director of campaigns, said: "We know that any amount of alcohol impairs driving, and yet the Government persists with the highest drink-drive limit in Europe. We urge the Government to introduce an effective zerotolerance drink-drive limit, providing much-needed clarity to all drivers that if you drink, you must not drive."
Transport Minister Baroness Vere said statistics show road casualties are the lowest they’ve been for 40 years, and that the number of deaths has also reduced.
She added: “While this n ews i s e n c ou ra g i n g a n d while we have some of the safest roads in the world, this Government will continue to work tirelessly to ensure our roads are safer still."