UK’s drink-drive epidemic exposed: 220k current convictions and 2.5k have offended 3 times or more

More than one drink-driver in 10 will reoffend after being caught, according to a Freedom of Information request by the RAC, which also uncovered that over the past 11 years roughly 27,000 were caught driving under the influence of alcohol more than once.

The RAC finding shows that 220,638 motorists hold drink-driving endorsements, with more than 12 per cent of these (26,819) having been prosecuted twice for this offence within the past 11 years.

Even more alarming, however, is that more than 2,500 drivers were caught drink-driving on three separate occasions or more; one driver was found to have received 10 separate convictions, while eight were caught driving over the limit six times. 

The vast majority of those prosecuted are done so under DR10 endorsements, which mean, in effect, that a driver was found to be over the prescribed alcohol limit to legally drive. A small handful of the more than 220,000 offences are DR20 cases which means a driver was technically under the alcohol limit, but nevertheless deemed unfit to drive because of alcohol in their system.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis explained: “These figures make it painfully clear that licence disqualification alone does little to prevent some convicted drink-drivers reoffending.”

The current punishment for drunk-driving is an immediate one-year driving ban, an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison. Repeat offenders are subject to even longer bans, although as the data above shows, this hasn't necessarily been enough to deter some.

With this in mind, the Government announced as part of its Road Safety Strategy that it would consider introducing harsher sentencing and even mandatory alcohol interlocks for repeat offenders. These devices require the driver to take a breathalyser test before starting the car – if the driver doesn’t pass, the ignition will refuse to switch on, thus preventing the intoxicated person from driving away.

“We believe [interlocks] could play a vital role in stopping persistent offenders putting lives at risk if they were part of [a] mandatory court-ordered programme. Public support is already strong, with RAC data showing 82 per cent of drivers back the introduction of alcolocks to prevent drink-driving.”

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