ALMOST 300 people were arrested for drink/drug driving offences over the festive period according to PSNI reports.
As part of the PSNI Christmas campaign which ran from December 1st, 2021, to January 1st, 2022, figures now show that 6,699 preliminary breath tests (PBTs) were conducted across the North.
This resulted in 295 arrests for drink/drug driving related offences, representing an increase of 5.4% compared with the same period last year (280).
Head of Road Policing Chief Inspector Graham Dodds told this paper, “At the start of the campaign we told the public that we would be out across the road network focusing on those drivers who take the selfish risk of drink or drug driving. Almost 300 people did not heed that warning and now find themselves going into 2022 facing the consequences of their actions.
“The highest reading detected during the campaign was 124 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millimetres of breath – the legal limit being 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. Yet again our enforcement action detected a young person, aged 16, who shouldn’t have been driving on the road, let alone driving under the influence.”
He added, “Drink or drug driving is one of the main causes of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads. In the Fermanagh and Omagh district, 23 people were arrested for drink/drug driving offences, which is two less arrests than during the same period last year (25).
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