Safe Speed Forums

http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/cnunews/tvpnews.asp?dismode=article&artid=127

Thursday, 01 July 2004

One in Ten drivers arrested for drink-driving - forcewide

One month into their summer drink-drive campaign, police in the Thames Valley have found that one in ten drivers they stopped tested positive for drink or drugs. This news comes as a national anti-drink-drive campaign is launched by the Department for Transport.

Over 1500 drivers were tested for drink or drugs throughout the first month of the campaign at road side checks and at collision sites. As a result, more than 150 drivers were arrested for drink or drug driving which, is one in ten of the drivers tested.

Roads Policing officers are continuing their operation to target drink-drive offenders throughout July on top of their usual patrols and routine breath tests, and will be acting on information and tip-offs from the public.

On average 24 people are killed and 119 are seriously injured on the roads in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire every year as a result of drink-driving.

Supt Neil Olney, head of Roads Policing, said: ?The results of this operation so far have reinforced our fears that too many drivers are still taking the risk of drinking and driving.

?They also indicate that if you risk it, you stand a very good chance of being caught.

?This operation will continue for another month, but drink and drug driving is an issue we concentrate on all year round, and we arrest on average 17 drink-drivers every day."
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1 in 10 Okay, fair dos, I expect that's been skewed a bit by testing everyone in accidents and drunks being more likely to crash. Maybe that's balanced out by the ones that didn't get stopped.
Good thing about TVP is they are tackling the problem. Bad thing is that this crack down is only until the end of July. I know they say they concentrate on it all year, and I expect they do in that patrols will always tug someone if they think they've had a few. I just think it be nicer if there were a few more patrols about. I've said elsewhere that seeing a TVP marked car is pretty rare in my area, and I'm sure that the idiot minority might be a little bit less keen to chance it if police cars were a more common sight.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

I see TVP cars everytime I walk past the police station, rarely see them elsewhere though, last time was when they had a radar (needed 4 of them to man that, and they didn't chase the car going at 59 in a 30, prolly just sent him a NIP )

Simon

Actually saw a panda this evening. For a brief moment I thought I'd have to post back here and eat my words before I realised it belonged to Surrey.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein