Drink driving rises among the elderly

A new survey has found that drink driving by elderly motorists is on the rise.

According to car insurer Swiftcover.com the number of over-75s offending has increased by 20% since 2010. The company’s figures followed data from 42 of the 52 UK police forces requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

UK police forces reported that as many as 232 over-75s were caught driving over the legal limit last year, including a 93-year-old stopped in Devon.

Roman Bryl, underwriting manager at swiftcover.com, told the Press Association: “Drink-driving is not acceptable at any age. Although great strides have been made to tackle this in younger people, the number of motorists drink-driving from the older generations is still worryingly high.

“An increase in driving under the influence among the elderly is a shocking and deeply concerning trend as far too many casualties and fatalities occur as a result of this.”

The figures showed that over-50s made up 15% of all drink-drive offenders, but that the proportion was as high as 54% in Lancashire and as low as 2% in London.

Southern England was the worst spot for older motorists drinking and driving, with south west England having the most over-75 offenders.

The figures also revealed that outside London, the fewest incidents of older drink-driving were in north east England and Yorkshire.

The police forces had been asked how many drivers had been caught driving over the legal alcohol limit in each of the years 2010, 2011 and 2012.

They were also asked to say how many of these were aged 50 or over, with the offenders being grouped in five-year brackets from 50 to over 90.