A busy week of enforcing the drink/drug drive law

Enforcing the drink and drug drive law is a year round commitment for us and takes place across Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire 24/7 to support the Safer West Mercia Plan.

Whilst the vast majority of drivers do the right thing, since the 1st December 180 people have been arrested for drink or drug driving across the three counties. This week alone officers have detected 72 drink/drug drive offences including the following:

• A 30 year old female arrested at 4:10 AM Friday 15th December following driving over the drink drive limit along Whitford Rd, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.
• A 55 year old male arrested later that morning at 11:37 AM for driving along Bye Street in Ledbury, Herefordshire with excess drugs in their system.
• A 20 year old male arrested later that day at 9:13 PM after being caught driving with excess drugs in his system on Stourbridge Rd, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.
• A 46 year old male failed a breath test at the Clock Tower roundabout, Telford on Saturday 16th December at 3:29 AM so was arrested.
• A 33 year old male arrested on the same day at 12:28 PM driving along the A495 Ellesmere, Shropshire under the influence of drugs.
• A 44 year old female arrested later that day at 6:28 PM driving along The Slough, Redditch, Worcestershire with excess alcohol in her system.
• A 49 year old female arrested at 4:06 PM on 19th December on the A417 Ledbury, Herefordshire for driving under the influence of alcohol.
• A 36 year old male arrested in Shrewsbury at 1:30 AM on 20th December for failing a roadside breath test.

Roads Policing officers carried out targeted enforcement operations this week across the South Shropshire/Herefordshire border with a total of 28 vehicles stopped for a number of offences including five arrests for drug driving. A similar operation was conducted in Worcestershire and incorporated policing a cruise event with in excess of 200 vehicles in attendance along the A441, again a number of offences were detected.

If driving or attempting to drive while above the legal limit or unfit through drink you may get six months’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, a driving ban for at least one year (three years if convicted twice in 10 years)

A conviction for drink-driving can also means your car insurance costs will increase significantly, if you drive for work, your employer will see your conviction on your licence
you may also have trouble travelling to countries like the USA.

In the last three years, 23 people have died and 154 have been seriously injured in collisions across Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire where alcohol has been listed as a contributory factor. A further 12 people have been killed and 68 seriously injured in collisions where drugs have been involved.

Superintendent Steph Brighton, for West Mercia Police, said: “It’s extremely frustrating that some motorists inexcusably still drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There is no fool-proof way of calculating how much you can drink and remain under the limit, or knowing how much an individual person can drink and still drive safely. Any amount of alcohol can affect your ability to drive and there are numerous consequences of driving with alcohol in your system. Enforcement already takes place 24/7 across the whole of our area in order to detect those who are willing to take the risk and to protect other road users. We hope that more people over the Christmas period choose a suitable alternative to alcohol if they are driving.”