The victims
Nationally 3,000 people are killed or seriously injured on our roads each year in drink drive related crashes and nearly one in six of all deaths on the road involve drivers who are over the legal limit.The effects
Alcohol affects your ability to drive safely - your reaction times are impaired, you're unable to judge speed and distances and you tend to feel over-confident. There can be little doubt that alcohol helps to fuel aggressive and anti-social use of our roads.The morning after
Put quite simply, it's impossible to get rid of alcohol any faster. A shower, a cup of coffee or other ways ofsobering up will not help. So, you may still be affected by alcohol the next day – when you drive to work and when you drive whilst at work.
The offenders
Drinking and driving occurs across a wide range of age groups, but particularly among young men aged 17-29 in both casualties and positive breath tests after a crash. Nationally, around 100,000 drivers are convicted each year for drink driving.It is force policy that every driver involved in a road crash will be breath tested. On average, those Warwickshire drivers who provided a positive breath test following a collision during 2005 and 2006 lived within 3 miles of the crash site.
The law
| If you are convicted of: | The maximum penalty is: |
| Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs. | 14 years' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, disqualification from driving for at least 2 years and a mandatory extended driving test. |
| Driving or attempting to drive whilst above the legal limit or unfit through drink. | 6 months imprisonment, a fine of up to £5,000 and disqualification from driving for at least 12 months (3 years if convicted twice in 10 years). |
| Being in charge of a vehicle whilst above the legal limit or unfit through drink. | 3 months imprisonment, a fine of £2,500 and discretionary disqualification from driving. |
| Refusing to provide a specimen of breath, blood or urine for analysis. | 6 months imprisonment, a fine of £5,000 and disqualification from driving for at least 12 months. |
Protecting our communities together
Nationally, some 20,000 lives are estimated to have been saved in the last 13 years thanks to drink drive campaigns. This could include you, your family or your friends.The next Police drink enforcement campaign runs between 4 - 10 June, 2007
Our communities fear harm through traffic dangers – in particular anti-social use of the roads – and they look to us to protect them. If we do not support them in this, they may not support us when we ask them for their help with other policing matters.
Please help to reduce fear of harm in our communities by enforcing drink drive law.
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