Drink-drive accidents
Alcohol misuse plays a significant role in drink-drive accidents affecting all types of road-users including drivers, passengers and pedestrians. Drink-drive accidents can cause long-term physical and psychological harm to everyone involved. A combination of law enforcement and sustained publicity campaigns has substantially reduced the number of these accidents over the past twenty years. Yet one in seven people killed on roads in the UK die in drink-drive accidents and around one in twenty of those injured are involved in drink-drive accidents.
This section aims to give up-to-date information about drinking and road accidents in the United Kingdom, and to suggest ways in which this harm can be prevented.
Accidents, casualties and deaths
The most up-to-date source of statistical information on drinking and driving is the Department of Transport Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) annual report ‘Road accidents Great Britain, the casualty report’.
The current edition was published in 2001, and covers the years up to and including 2000. (Note that responsibility for road safety issues, including drink-drive accidents rests with the Department for Transport as of June 2002).
For the purposes of drink-drive statistics the DTLR defines a drink-drive accident as being: ‘an incident on a public road in which someone is killed or injured and where one or more of the motor vehicle drivers or riders involved either refused to give a breath test specimen when requested by the police (other than when incapable of doing so for medical reasons) or one of the following
- failed a roadside breath test by registering over 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath
- died and was subsequently found to have more than 80 of alcohol per 100 mililitres of blood
Drink drive casualties are defined as all road users killed or injured in a drink-drive accident.’ (1-DTLR, 2001)
There are 3 main sources of data:
- Coroners’ data on the level of alcohol in the blood of road fatalities over the age of 16
- STATS 19 breath test data
- Police force screening breath test data
Note that not all drink-drive accidents can be detected in the way described above and some data sources are incomplete so the DTLR statistics are adjusted to provide a more accurate estimate of accidents and casualties
However the annual report on accidents provides the most comprehensive set of available statistics (see Figure 1 below). The figures indicate:
- In 2000 there were 11,780 accidents involving drivers and riders drinking over the legal limit for alcohol. This number has significantly decreased over the past twenty years from 19,470 in 1979 to 11,780 in 2000. However, this trend has altered over the past 2 years with the number of accidents increasing from 10,100 in 1998 to 11,780 in 2000.
- Of these 11,780 accidents in 2000, 430 involved fatalities, a 69% decrease from 1380 fatalities in 1979.
- Overall casualties numbered 18,030 in 2000, a decrease of 43% from the 31,430 casualties in 1979.
Figure 1: Estimates of accidents involving illegal alcohol levels and the consequent casualties: 1979-1999
| Accidents | fatal | serious | slight | total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1,380 | 5,630 | 12,460 | 19,470 |
| 1989 | 700 | 3,390 | 10,300 | 14,390 |
| 1996 | 480 | 2,150 | 8,240 | 10,870 |
| 1997 | 470 | 2,140 | 8,100 | 10,710 |
| 1998 | 410 | 1,860 | 7,840 | 10,100 |
| 1999 | 400 | 1,850 | 8,800 | 11,010 |
| 2000 | 430 | 1,950 | 9,410 | 11,780 |
| Casualties | fatal | serious | slight | total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1,640 | 8,300 | 21,490 | 31,430 |
| 1989 | 810 | 4,790 | 16,620 | 22,220 |
| 1996 | 580 | 3,010 | 13,450 | 17,040 |
| 1997 | 550 | 2,940 | 13,310 | 16,800 |
| 1998 | 460 | 2,520 | 12,610 | 15,590 |
| 1999 | 420 | 2,430 | 13,980 | 16,830 |
| 2000 | 520 | 2,530 | 14,980 | 18,030 |
Source: DTLR (Road Accidents Great Britain 2000)
Figure 2: Casualties in alcohol-related road accidents 2000
However, the most recent statistics show that there are no grounds for complacency:
- The estimated number of alcohol-related fatalities rose from 460 in 1999 to 520 in 2000 a 13% rise.
- While the overall number of casualties has fallen since 1979 (see above), over the last 3 years the number of casualties has actually been increasing from 15,590 in 1998 to 18,030 in 2000 (a 16% rise). Generally it is the number of slight or minor casualties that has increased
- It still remains a fact that one in seven of all peo-ple killed on the roads and one in twenty of all those injured were involved in drink-drive accidents
Figure 4: Penalties for drink-driving offences
| Offence | Driving Ban | Fine | Custodial Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| In charge of a vehicle whilst above the legal limit or unfit through drink | Discretionary | Maximum fine: £2,500 | Maximum sentence: 3 months |
| Driving or attempting to drive whilst unfit through drink | 12 months minimum driving ban | Maximum fine: £5,000 | Maximum sentence: 6 months |
| Driving or attempting to drive whilst above the legal limit | 12 months minimum driving ban | Maximum fine: £5,000 | Maximum sentence: 6 months |
| Refusing to give a test | 12 months minimum driving ban | Maximum fine: £5,000 | Maximum sentence: 6 months |
| Causing death by dangerous driving | 2 years minimum driving ban | Unlimited maximum fine | Maximum sentence: 10 years |
| Subsequent driving offence (following return of license) | 3 years minimum driving ban | Maximum fine depends on the type of offence | Maximum sentence depends on the type of offence |
