News

15 December 2008
MORE DRIVERS HEED FESTIVE DRINK DRIVE WARNINGS

FEWER DRIVERS got behind the wheel after drinking or taking drugs during the first week of the nation-wide festive safety season than last year, according to one of Scotland’s top road policing officers.

Results from the first week of the ‘Festive Drink-Drugs Driving Safety Campaign 2008-09’ show a total of 164 drivers were caught drink driving or refusing to give a breath test – down by 35 from last year. This included eight drivers found to be unfit through drugs or drink as well as 21 drivers involved in collisions.

“As the results show, fewer drivers than last year are putting themselves, their passengers and other members of the public at risk,” said Assistant Chief Constable Jim Green of Strathclyde Police, Secretary of the Road Policing Business Area for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS). 

“But we are still concerned that over one hundred and fifty motorists chose to ignore warnings and break the law.

“What was more disturbing was that one in ten drivers stopped – 15 in this case - were ‘morning after’ arrests,” Mr. Green added.

This was the first time in the annual ACPOS-led campaign that analysis has been broken down to show the number of motorists arrested between 6 and 10 am.

Among the ‘morning after’ drivers arrested were:

• A 58-year-old female school teacher stopped on her way to school in East Kilbride by Strathclyde police officers, failed a roadside breath test and taken to Rutherglen Police Office where she provided a reading of almost twice the drink-drive limit.
• In Lothian and Borders, a 38-year-old male stopped by police in Musselburgh at 08:30 on the morning of the first day of the campaign and found to be almost twice the limit.
• In Peterhead, Grampian Police stopped a 60-year old male for drink driving on Monday, 08 December at 09:25.  He was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit.

Another driver found to be nearly four times over the limit turned out to be disqualified as well. The 53-year-old male was stopped on Lanark Road in Braidwood by Strathclyde police officers on Sunday morning at 7:40, arrested and taken to Lanark Police Office.

Among the other Strathclyde area drivers arrested on Wednesday evening was a 36-year-old male whose vehicle was traced to Dalmarnock Road in Glasgow after officers received a complaint regarding a car being driven erratically in the east end of the city.  He refused a breath test and was arrested and taken to a police station where he subsequently failed to provide specimens of breath.  He will be appearing in Glasgow Sheriff Court today.

On Scotland Street in Glasgow, where Strathclyde police officers were engaged in a high profile road check at a prominent crash location, a driver was stopped after being detected travelling at more than twice the speed limit.  The vehicle contained four rear seat passengers including one child.  The driver failed a roadside breath test, was arrested and taken to Govan Police Office where he was found to be over the drink drive limit.

Among the other 15 drink drive offenders detected by Grampian Police was a 22-year-old man who was not only disqualified but had no insurance and MOT.  He was arrested just after midnight this morning and will be appearing in Aberdeen Sheriff Court this afternoon.

On Boydstone Road in Glasgow, Strathclyde police observed a 22-year-old male driving erratically. He admitted smoking cannabis while driving as officers had detected a strong smell after stopping him.

In the Thurso area, Northern Constabulary officers arrested a 31-year-old male driver who was found to be unfit through drugs and in possession of ecstacy, valium and methadone.

A rash of drivers, arrested and found to be two or three times over the limit, were reported to Procurator Fiscals in Plains (Lanarkshire), Inverness, Kerriemuir, Perth, Arbroath and Dundee.