Yahoo News Poor public transport to blame for rural drink-driving epidemic, transport minister suggests
A lack of public transport in rural areas is worsening a drink-drive epidemic, the transport minister has suggested.
New figures reveal that more motorists are charged with driving over the legal alcohol limit in largely rural areas.
Results of Freedom of Information requests indicate that Lincolnshire prosecutes the most drivers per population, followed by North Wales, Warwickshire, Dyfed-Powys and North Yorkshire.
It has prompted calls for better public transport in rural areas and warnings to anyone tempted to drink and drive over the festive period.
John Hayes, the Conservative MP for South Holland and Deepings, in Lincolnshire, suggested that the problem of rural drink-driving is being "compounded" by a lack of sufficient public transport in the worst offending regions.
We have a sparsity of public transport, many people are dependent on a car, which may compound the issue
John Hayes MP
New figures pinpointed Lincolnshire, Warwickshire and North Wales as having the highest level of drink-driving, with Lincolnshire charging 1,035 motorists in 12 months, followed by 783 drivers in North Wales.
Mr Hayes said: “We have a dispersed population in Lincolnshire and sparsity of public transport, many people are dependent on a car, which may compound the issue.
“Drink-driving is clearly a problem in Lincolnshire and it does have its consequences.”
Police inspector Ewan Gell, of Lincolnshire's serious collision investigation unit, said: “If we are at the top of that chart I think there is a problem with drink-driving in Lincolnshire and we need to work very carefully to get the education message across to make sure we get those figures down.
“The only way you can change drink and drug-driving behaviour is by fear of getting caught and what these figures say to me is that we are good at catching people, so that is the message we will be putting out, we are very effective at targeting individuals who drink-drive.”
The findings came after 31 forces out of 45 provided figures over a 12 month period from May 2017.
AA president Edmund King echoed Mr Hayes opinion that the data could relate to poor public transport, adding: “It could also be down to more targeted police enforcement, but whatever the reasons, there is no excuse for drink-driving.”
Police Scotland had the highest overall total at 3,797 drivers, however the legal limit in Scotland is lower than in the rest of the UK, sitting at 22 micrograms per 100ml of breath, compared to 35 micrograms in England and Wales.
Chief Superintendent Stewart Carle, Police Scotland's road policing lead, highlighted that there was no "safe limit" when it came to drink-driving and "driving while intoxicated puts the driver and other road users at greater risk of serious injury.”
Mr Hayes is the Minister of State for Transport. He was shuffled back to the department by Theresa May in July last year.
He had previously served in the department from July 2014, when his responsibilities included national roads. After the 2015 general election, he was moved to the Home Office.
