Worried about drinking and driving?

Then join CADD in our campaign to stamp out drinking and driving. Phone us on 0845 123 5541 / 43, write to us at PO Box 62, Brighouse, West Yorkshire HD6 3YY, or e-mail us. You can become a member of CADD by filling in and posting us our membership form - please click here to download.

We are a registered charity and rely on donations to help us to continue our work - if you feel you would like to make a donation, please send cheques (made payable to 'CADD') to the above address.

We also operate a confidential help line for those affected by death or injury on the roads - ring 0845 123 5542 (calls are charged at local rate) - we are open 365 days a year, 9am to 9pm.

Click HERE for 2009 Statistics

The Facts About Drinking & Driving:

Drink and drug drive deaths and injuries 2008 Research suggests that around one in six deaths on our roads is caused by drivers over the legal alcohol limit and similar numbers are caused by drug drivers.

That means that of the 2,645 people killed on UK roads in 2008, about 880 deaths may have been caused by drivers whose driving was impaired by drink and/or drugs.

That is:

• 73 people killed by drink and drug drivers every month
• 17 people killed by drink and drug drivers every week
• 1 person killed by drink and drug drivers every 10 hours

Accurate figures for all drink and drug-related crashes for 2008 are not available, but we do know that:

• About 880 deaths, 1,760 serious injuries and 11,850 slight injuries were caused by drivers over the legal drink-drive limit in Britain.
• 18 people were killed, 121 were seriously injured and 376 were slightly injured in crashes in Northern Ireland caused by drivers on alcohol or drugs.
• Police reported that at least 60 deaths, 280 serious injuries and 745 slight injuries were caused by crashes in Britain in which drugs were a contributory factor.

(NB: although these figures are generally accepted they are believed to be a vast underestimate of the casualties actually caused by drug driving - see below)

Other research confirms that the problem of drug-driving is widespread, linked to increasing use of illegal drugs:  

KEY FACTS:

• Drink driving dropped dramatically over the eleven years from 1986 to 1997. Drink drive fatalities were 990 in 1986, compared with 540 for 1997. However, this trend is reversing, with 580 drink drive deaths in 2004, although the figure has been stable for the last two years.
  
  
• In 2004 nearly 184,000 drivers and riders in road injury accidents were breath tested, with a 4% failure rate, which is the exact same rate as in 1997.



• Drink driving is not restricted to the run up to Christmas, but is an all year round problem.



• In 2004 (the latest year for which we have definite statistics), 2920 people were killed or seriously injured in drink related accidents.



• 21% of drivers and riders killed on the roads in 2004 were over the legal blood alcohol limit.



• In injury accidents in 2004 362,303 people were breathalysed and 7,427 failed - that's 2% of those tested.



• In 2004, 3.1% of men involved in injury-accidents failed a breath test, compared to 1.1% of women.



• In 2004 , 56% of all alcohol related accidents occurred between midnight on Thursday and midnight on Sunday.



• In 2004, in the key 17 - 24 age group, 6.3% breath tested after an accident failed the test, compared to an average for all ages of 4.4%

Source: Department for Transport, September 2005.

DRINKING AND DRIVING:

Legal Alcohol Limits:

• 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
• 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
• 107 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine.

Limit is scientifically based: set at level where for most drivers the chance of accident involvement rises sharply.

Within the EU, Cyprus has the highest limit, with 90-milligrammes, 4 member states had an 80-milligramme limit, including the UK and Malta, 13 have 50-milligrames. Lithuania allows 40-milligrammes, 3 member states have a 20-milligramme limit, and the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia have a zero limit.

Fatal casualties in accidents where one driver or rider was over the legal limit - Great Britain :

Percentage of drivers and riders killed in GB, whose blood alcohol level was known, and were over the legal limit:

Drivers killed - Percentage over legal blood alcohol limit - GB 2004 by Age Group

Police Enforcement:

Fatalities And Serious Injuries On The Roads of Great Britain 2004:

Number of Offences Resulting in Immediate Imprisonment - England & Wales

Sentences resulting in immediate imprisonment as percentage of all findings of guilt - England & Wales

Average fines at Magistrate's Courts - England & Wales

Average fines at Magistrate's Courts revalued to 1993 prices - England & Wales

In England & Wales in 2004 there were 2915 deaths on the road

To put this in perspective, there were :-

209 deaths from AIDS/HIV
59 deaths from CJD
No deaths from Bird Flu

2915 deaths on the road

(Source: Department of Transport and Office for National Statistics)