One in three motorists stopped in the Telford & Wrekin area over the Christmas period was arrested after giving a positive breath test, new figures reveal.
Telford is shown to be a hotbed for drink-drivers compared to the majority of areas in the West Mercia Police force area, including Shrewsbury where one in five drivers was over the limit
Constable Rod Lake, traffic management officer for Telford and Wrekin, said a month-long campaign was held in a bid to crack down on motorists flouting the law.
He said: “On average every third person who was stopped by police in Telford and Wrekin was over the limit and arrested, or refused to give one and was arrested.
“If you are caught drink-driving there is every likelihood that you will be banned for 18 months and have a hefty fine as well as perhaps putting your job in jeopardy. It is not worth it.
“The figures are disappointing. But it just goes to prove that if you do drink and drive there is a very good chance you will be caught.”A total of 1,501 drivers across Telford & Wrekin, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire were given a roadside screening breath test over Christmas.
One in ten failed in Worcestershire, while it was one in four in the Hereford area and one in two in Kidderminster and Redditch.
Jenny Wynn, of driver training organisation TTC Group, who is a member of Telford Crime Prevention Panel and West Mercia Crimestoppers, said: “Of those drivers stopped in Telford the percentage that failed a roadside breath test is horrendous.”
6 Comments
PC Lake says that the figures are disappointing - I think they’re encouraging because it shows that the police in Telford are stopping more and more of the right people. Drink driving will never be stopped regardless of campaigns or penalties.
It is also interesting that Telford is, apparently, a “hotbed for drink drivers”. However, these figures do not mean anything at all because we do not know the total number of drink drivers - we only know how many people are caught out of a total number of drivers stopped. That does not actually tell us anything with regards to drink driving levels - we’ll never know that. Hence, the statistics are worthless.
NB - Drink driving should incur a custodial sentence in my opinion.
Another point not mentioned is where and when the drink drivers were caught.
For example, you are far more likely to find a large number of drink drivers around town on a Friday night in Oakengates than you would find during the rush hour crossing the Welsh Bridge on a Thursday morning!
Statistics can be made to say almost anything if they are not quantified correctly.
I imagine that Telford, being an urban area, is also likely to have had more policemen stopping potential offenders than perhaps some of the more rural areas of the county where drink-driving might be more likely to go undetected. A ‘hot-bed’ of testing perhaps?
I think the ‘hot bed’ statistic is probably not of much use, save for allowing the Shropshire Star its predictable anti-Telford/pro-Shrewsbury stance.
It would also be of interest to know how many of the drivers caught were people stopped the morning after Christmas parties etc. who thought they were under the limit, but had failed to take account of the lasting effects of drinks the night before.
TELFORD , WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO BE SAID
Tom - whatever makes you think this problem is specific to Telford? I work in a bar in Shifnal and see it happening there every weekend; when I worked in Shrewsbury it was exactly the same there.
Unfortunately, this was over the Christmas period only. What about the rest of the year? It doesn’t stop because Christmas is over. Too much emphasis is placed by the authorities on speed misdemenours; not enough police out on the roads where it matters. After all “safety” cameras can’t catch drivers over the limit can they?
im a taxidriver an could catch loads of law breakers every day from neglecting children 2 dangerous driving including drink drivers
and drug users and social security cheats