Driving bevande “effettivamente legalizzato” quando il numero di test del respiro cade

Non-paywall link: https://archive.ph/L6put

> Drink-driving has effectively been legalised due to plummeting rates of breathalyser tests and light punishments for offenders, campaigners have warned.

> The number of breath tests conducted by police has fallen by more than 62 per cent over the past decade as dangerously inebriated drivers receive short bans.

> In 2009, police carried out 647,380 breath tests, but by 2023, that figure had fallen to just 240,322.

> The number of positive tests has remained stagnant, and campaigners argue that it reflects a lack of enforcement.

> In 2002, 18 per cent of breath tests were positive, compared to 16 per cent in 2023, while the number of drivers prosecuted for drink-driving offences has significantly decreased. Convictions for drink-driving fell from 55,300 in 2012 to 40,292 in 2023, coinciding with the sharp decline in breath testing.

> Lawrence Newport, of the campaign group Crush Crime said: “Driving is not a right — we require licences for a reason.

> “We expect minimum safety standards from drivers. The fact that repeat drink-drivers face such short driving bans is completely unjustifiable. It is beyond unacceptable that drink-drivers who have killed someone are ever allowed back on Britain’s roads.”

> Crush Crime has highlighted cases where drink and drug drivers responsible for serious or fatal incidents have received minimal driving bans.

> In some instances, repeat offenders are back behind the wheel within a few years, even after causing fatalities. Lifetime bans are rarely issued, even for the most egregious cases of dangerous driving.

> One such case is mum-of-three Charlotte Shipley, who struck a taxi during a police chase with her baby in the front seat while high on cannabis. Shipley, who was uninsured, had been convicted five days before the offence for dangerous driving. In February she was given a ten-month prison sentence and banned from driving for two years and five months.

> Stuart Lithgow collided with a motorcyclist while more than twice the drink-driving limit. The motorcyclist later died from his injuries. Lithgow was jailed last October for six years and was disqualified from driving for six years after his release — a punishment campaigners describe as grossly inadequate.

> Shane Oliver, who led police on a high-speed chase while over three times the legal cannabis limit, received a one-year prison sentence and an 18-month driving ban in April last year, despite having multiple previous convictions.

> Crush Crime is calling for sweeping changes to sentencing guidelines and legislation. They want to see a minimum six-year driving ban for drink driving, lifetime bans for repeat offenders, and mandatory lifetime bans for those who kill due to drink or drug driving.

> Newport said: “It is not the responsibility of the public to shoulder the risk. Repeat offenders must be banned from driving before it’s too late”.

> Campaigners insist that urgent action is needed to prevent further tragedies and restore public trust in the justice system.

> Sarah Coombes, Labour MP for West Bromwich, said: “The effects of drink and drug driving are appalling. As an MP I’ve seen too many families ripped apart by this and other kinds of unacceptable dangerous driving.

> “Repeat offenders should have their licences taken away for good. The government is doing the first road safety strategy for ten years which is the perfect opportunity to crack down on this kind of selfish, dangerous driving that puts other road users at risk.”

The standard of driving on the roads is pretty much wholesale fucked. There should be harsher penalties up and down the scale of anti-social, careless or dangerous driving – significant (minimum 2 year) bans for drink and drug driving and prison sentences for people who kill others on the roads. Mandatory 3 month driving bans would go a long way towards getting people off their phones behind the wheel.