Police catching more morning-after drivers

Newly released figures show that the number of people arrested by police for drink driving on the “morning after” is increasing.

The police statistics, which have been published by car insurance company LV= show that the number of people arrested for drink driving between 6am and 8am rose nearly 4% between 2011 and 2012.

LV= car insurance managing director John O’Roarke said: “It’s easy to assume that after a good night’s sleep you will be sober enough to drive the next day but, depending on how many units you’ve had, you may not be fit to drive.

“The key to enjoying the festive season is to plan ahead and don’t drive if you are not within the legal alcohol limits.”

The arrest figures were obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request and were based on replies from 22 of the 45 British police constabularies.

The statistics showed that 350 drivers were arrested for drink-driving between 6am and 8am in 2011, with this figure rising to 363 in 2012.

The good news is that overall more people appear to by heeding the don’t drink and drive message as police figures showed that, overall, drink-drive offences fell 4% in 2012 compared with 2011.

A further LV= survey of 1,688 drivers showed that 3% had driven while over the legal limit the morning after a drinking session in the last two years.

Of these morning-after offenders, 37% said driving was unavoidable, 26% said they were only going a short distance and 19% thought they were all right to take to the road. The survey showed that 46% of drivers underestimated, or did not know how long, it took for alcohol to leave the body.