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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4004509.stm

Breath test rates 'down by 29%'

Police are carrying out fewer breath tests even though the number of drink drive accidents has grown dramatically, say the Liberal Democrats.

New figures uncovered by the party show that breath tests have gone down by 29% since Labour was elected in 1997.

This decrease has coincided with a 16% rise in the number of accidents involving drink drivers.

The Home Office suggests the fall is acceptable because police are adept at targeting drink-drive suspects.

Fundamental?

The Lib Dems' warning comes as police prepare their Christmas drink-drive campaigns.

National road safety charity Brake this week suggested the "don't drink and drive" message was not getting through to motorists.

Lib Dem transport spokesman John Thurso said breath testing was key in fighting the danger posed by drink drivers.

"These statistics are very worrying. Breath tests are a vital component of preventing drink-driving," he said.

"Taking into consideration that accidents involving illegal levels of alcohol have increased since 1997, it is quite surprising that the number of breath tests is on the decline.

"The government is failing to address the reality of drink driving. Breath testing is fundamental if we are to mitigate against the danger posed by those who chose to drink and drive."

The figures were obtained by Mr Thurso in a written answer from Home Office minister Hazel Blears.

The information came from the Home Office court proceedings database.

Police intelligence

A Home Office spokeswoman said each police force had to decide how to spend money on road policing.

"The police are already adept at targeting drink-drive suspects and the government would like forces to continue to use intelligence-based methods to catch offenders," she said.

"There is no evidence to suggest that the increase in the number people stopped and giving positive breath tests is not a result of better targeting by police."

Britain had some of the toughest penalties in Europe, including an automatic minimum year's driving ban, up to 6 months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000, said the spokeswoman.

A combination of rigid enforcement and advertising campaigns has a dramatic effect on reducing the numbers of killed and seriously injured in crashes involving illegal levels of alcohol.

Alcohol is still a factor in about one in eight of all fatal crashes.

But the government says the share of drivers testing positive after collisions (8.7%) has remained relatively steady since 1997 when the current method of recording data began.

The spokeswoman said there was still much more to do, especially in tackling hardcore drink drivers and young drivers.
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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

I've puzzling about these claims for the last 15 minutes. I'm very confident that we really do have an increasing drink drive problem caused by reduced police traffic patrols. But how is the government able to claim that the proportion tested post accident remains the same?

How can it be that the post crash test proportion remains the same when the real proportion is rising?

It can only mean that the police are LESS effective at targeting breath tests after crashes. The proportion of drunk drivers has increased but the Police have failed to detect the increase. So not only are there fewer tests, they are also less well targeted.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Hmmm, well the Government counterclaims aren't even true by the Government's own figures.

See these:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/d ... 031332.xls
and
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/d ... 031288.pdf

From the spreadsheet we can calculate that the proportion of post crash positive tests rose from 3.5% in 1999 to 4.4% in 2003. It doesn't sound like much, but it's an increase of 25%!

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

How?
Grass up your mates?

Good policy...

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Speed camera policy Kills

I wouldn't belittle this as I would imagine the police are actually fairly skilled at it, using a mixture of tip-offs from the public and profiling of offenders. This is far better than doing random tests or roadblocks that just inconvenience the law-abiding majority.

And, as In Gear has said before, a skilled trafpol on patrol will have little difficulty in spotting an alcohol-impaired driver from the manner of his driving.

The problem is that outside a limited number of high-profile campaigns they don't have sufficient resources to devote to targeted drink-driving enforcement, or indeed anything else.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

In an earlier employment, much travelling by road was involved. The company for whom I worked was, by chance, staffed by, among others, two ex policemen, both class 1 drivers.

I had much respect for and am very grateful to one in particular, Bob Dixonm. He's no longer with us - suffered a terminal stroke in his late thirties. It was on him that I modelled much of my driving style all those years ago. I had only recently passed my test when I started working for that firm, and on a very steep learning curve. I owe a lot to Bob.

Anyway - after all that rambling, the point I want to make is, quite often, Bob would utter words to the effect "He's pissed". I would have been observing fairly well - picking up tips from Bob - but even after Bob made the proclamation, I would still not see any signs.

Of course, I'd never be able to prove it, as the situation did not allow any follow-ups. (this predates mobile phones by decades). However, I have absolutely no reason to doubt him, as every other action and statement he made in driving terms was fully vindicated.