Lack of progress in reducing drink-drive deaths has gone on too long says IAM RoadSmart
The UK’s leading independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart has expressed disappointment in yet another year of no significant change in the levels of drink-driving in Britain, based on new Government statistics announced today (2 February).
IAM RoadSmart again called for England and Wales to follow Scotland’s lead and reduce drink-drive limits to the same level, in combination with an increase in high-profile and intelligence led policing.
The Department for Transport announced that provisional estimates for 2015 show 220 deaths in alcohol related crashes.
Some 1,380 people were killed or seriously injured when at least one driver was over the limit. This represents a statistically significant rise from 1,310 in 2014.
In addition, the total number of collisions and accidents where at least one driver was over the alcohol limit rose by 2%to 5,740 in 2015 (reference 1).
Neil Greig, IAM RoadSmart director of policy and research, stated that the continued lack of progress in reducing these figures had gone on for too long and was still too high - 13%, or around one in seven of all fatal crashes involved alcohol in 2015.
He added: “The increase in serious injury crashes and the overall increase in drink related crashes is worrying and suggests the problem is not reducing among a hard core of drivers willing to take the risk.
“The Government should introduce a lower limit in England and Wales. It won’t eradicate the problem completely but it will deliver a small but significant decrease in drink drive casualties and underline the clear message that driving and drinking don’t mix.”
Neil added: “The only way to catch those who ignore the limit is through intelligence led high profile policing so investment in roads policing must be protected.”
He continued: “Drivers who take a drink-drive rehabilitation course do appear to be less likely to reoffend. Currently a convicted drink-driver has to choose to take a course if offered.
“At IAM RoadSmart we believe a more effective option would be to make the course compulsory and force drivers to opt out only if they choose to.”
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Notes to editors
Further information from:
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IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.
To find out more about IAM RoadSmart products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com
To find out more about IAM RoadSmart’s Driver Retraining Academy visit www.iamdra.org.uk
To find out the name of your own local IAM RoadSmart group please visit: https://wwwiamroadsmart.com/local-groups
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