Drink Driving Deaths on the Rise in UK

The number of people killed in drink driving-related road accidents is on the rise in Britain, according to the government statistics. Records showed there were around 260 deaths in accidents in the United Kingdom (UK) in a year ago where many drivers were caught being over the drink-drive limit.

However, the Department for Transport (DfT) said that due to uncertainty in the estimates, this rise is not statistically significant. But some observers stressed that the figure was incredibly disheartening. Imagine that 160 people died in tragic road accidents which could be avoided if drivers just avoided being drunk whilst behind the steering wheel.

The DfT figures revealed that the number of individuals seriously injured in drink-driving fell eight percent in the past two-year period. The total number of deaths in all types of accidents caused by drink-driving in a year ago had a 17 % dip compared to the previous years. But latest figure indicates another increase in the number of deaths which has been recorded recently.

The DfT however said the seriously injured and death figures will hopefully decrease in the years ahead. Records also showed that in 2013 and 2014, there were only six per cent of all driver respondents admitted to have driven their cars even when they knew they may be beyond the drink-drive limit imposed by the government. The DfT said this figure has no statistical difference from any year since 2010.

The DfT also stressed that of those motorists who had driven when they were beyond the drink-drive limit in 2013 and 2014, almost two thirds of them had done such offence once or twice. This comprises 8.1 % of male and only 3.5 % of female.

The female drivers admitted to driving over the drink-drive limit at least once. The DfT also said that those people most likely to drink and drive were drivers aged 20 to 24 years old. In the years 2013 and 2014, there was a total of 0.7 % of motorists who admitted to driving when they thought they were under the influence of illegal drugs.

Edmund King, president of Automobile Association, said that while he welcomed the news that the number of people injured in crashes related to drink-driving has continued to fall in previous years, the overall total is still far too many. So, it’s also disheartening that the number of people who died due to drink-driving has risen in the past two years between 2012 and 2013.

King said the lesson we need to take from these figures of deaths is that drug and drink-driving remains a road menace. So, we need additional traffic police force on our roads to catch these offending motorists and then educate them further so that there will be more and more drivers who can realize that they’re actually playing a dangerous game by risking themselves at wheel when they’re over the drink-drive limit.

King is hoping that the safety net provided by the government will be tightened further against drink and drug-driving by putting up more evidential testing equipment at the roadsides to make them become common-place.

On the other hand, RAC spokesman Simon Williams said these estimates will indicate more reduction in the number of reported road fatalities due to drink-driving. He added that drink-driving is a topic that’s still subject to high-profile regional and national awareness-raising and hard-hitting campaigns.

William said there’s definitely a message for government here to have long-term investments in campaigns to make our roads safer and have a positive and tangible impact.

Learn manual and automatic lessons Liverpool from the best driving school today!