A Freedom Of Information (FOI) request has revealed that over 8,000 motorists who had been convicted of drink driving have been caught over the limit again within the last 5 years.
This news has caused the President of the AA, Edmund King to describe the revelations as “astonishing” and to suggest the method of returning driving licences to those convicted and banned for drink driving to be reviewed.
The FOI questioned the amount of times drivers received DR10 endorsements on their driving licences between 2011 and 2015. A DR10 endorsement is when a driver has been convicted of driving or attempting to drive over the legal alcohol limit.
Times British Motorists Received A DR10 Endorsement Between 2011 & 2015.
- One – 219,008
- Two – 8,068
- Three – 449
- Four – 46
- Five – 5
- Six – 2
On seeing the figures, Mr King stated: “The fact that more than 8,000 drivers have been caught twice in five years is all the more astonishing when they should have been off the road for a year or more.
“The repeat offender figures also suggest that a minority of drivers have a drink problem rather than a driving problem.
“Perhaps it is time to review some of the medical checks and rehabilitation courses before allowing these drivers back on the road.”
A spokesman from road safety charity Brake said: “It is appalling that offenders are being allowed to continue driving after being caught drink-driving multiple times.
“These are individuals who clearly have no regard for the lives of others. They have been granted ample opportunity to change their behaviour and should face the full force of the law.”
It should be noted that if a drink driver is not considered as a high risk, they can get their driving licence back after completing a form, which includes a medical questionnaire.
If the drink driver is considered as high risk, then they must pass an additional medical assessment before they can have their driving licence back.
A drink driver is considered as being high risk if they have been caught drink driving twice within ten years or were found to have more than two and half times the legal alcohol limit in their system when they were caught.
The DVLA stated that it was duty bound to return a drink driver’s driving licence after the period of disqualification had been served. However, it continued that it would make further investigations into the driver if there were an indication of ongoing alcohol issues.
The DVLA data shows the number of drink-drive convictions has fallen in recent years, from 53,885 in 2011 to 42,587 in 2015.
But Brake claims this demonstrates “a worrying lack of progress in drink-drive enforcement” and urged the Government to put “serious investment” into road policing to protect law-abiding people from “hard-core drunk drivers”.
RAC data has shown that there has been a 27% drop in road traffic police for England and Wales between 2010 and 2015.
Early estimates from the Department for Transport (DfT) show that between 200 and 290 people were killed in drink-drive accidents on Britain’s roads last year.
Further figures obtained by the AA have shown that nearly two-thirds of those caught drink driving in the run up to Christmas overt the past three years, were at least twice over the legal drink driving limit.
About Carl Millar
Carl Millar is a highly respected and experienced drink driving solicitor who is the principal of Millars Solicitors.
Carl has been a specialist in road traffic law for many years and represents clients from all walks of life and all over the Country. He is well known for the dogged defending of his clients and robust cross examination of police officers and exert witnesses.
With a wealth of expertise in motoring law Carl is well placed to provide advice over the phone and deal with all road traffic matters in a calm and professional way.
Getting in contact with Carl and Millars Solicitors is really easy. You can call him FREE on 0800 999 5535, or click here to send a confidential message.
