Figures released by the Home Office reveal the number of roadside breathalyser tests performed by police in England and Wales in 2019 was the lowest since records began in 2002. In 2002 481,561 tests were performed, but last year just 285,380 were carried out. In 2018 322,769 were made. The figures exclude Metropolitan, Norfolk, Sussex and Suffolk and police forces.
The figures reveal a 40.74% drop since 2002. The peak number of tests was carried out in 2009, at 670,023, which is 42.59% higher than 2019’s total. The same data also revealed 2.2 million speeding fines were handed out last year, which is a jump of 7.8% from 2018. Careless driving charges and penalties for car occupants not wearing a seatbelt also grew year-on-year from 2018-2019.
Edmund King, president of the AA,said: “It is worrying that drink driving tests are at their lowest point in 18 years. Regrettably, this only highlights the massive reduction in the number of specialist traffic officers on our roads. While cameras are a useful tool in helping police our roads, we cannot solely rely on them. A camera cannot stop a drink driver, or pull over someone driving carelessly, so having more cops in cars will help eliminate poor and dangerous driving.
“The lack of roads police has led to drivers thinking they can get away with certain offences. More than two thirds say it is unlikely they would be caught driving carelessly where they live, while two fifths (43%) say they could drive without insurance and feel they wouldn’t be caught.
“The AA believes that we should set a target of zero road deaths by the end of the decade, and can only reach that if a significant effort is made to meet that ambition. As well as more police, we’d like to see more road safety campaigns and road safety made part of the national curriculum in order to eliminate the levels of driver complacency.”
Keyword: Breathalyser tests at the lowest point in 18 years in England and Wales