New research from Scrap Car Comparison reveals the areas of the UK with the most drink driving convictions in the past year, as well as how many drivers were found to be repeat offenders, and how many had their licenses revoked as a result of their careless driving charges.
The data, which was obtained from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the DVLA, also revealed that there were 47,280 drink driving convictions in the UK in 2021 – an increase of over 5,000 convictions compared to 2020. Of the drink driving convictions recorded in 2021, over 2% (1,068 cases) were made by repeat drink driving offenders, with 994 drivers having at least two drink driving offences already on their records.
Convictions for driving over the limit have increased by almost 10% YoY
With over 47,000 drink driving offences recorded in the UK in 2021, the study also revealed the number of drivers convicted of common specific driving offences including causing death by careless driving, driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink and being in charge of a vehicle while alcohol levels are above a legal limit.
In Wales, England and Northern Ireland the drink-drive limit is 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath, 80 milligrammes per 100ml of blood, or 107 microgrammes per 100 ml of urine. In Scotland, these limits are slightly lower, with the drink driving limit being 22 micrograms per 100ml of breath, 50 milligrammes per 100ml of blood and 67 milligrammes per 100ml of urine.
The data revealed that last year over 34,400 drivers were charged with driving or attempting to drive with alcohol levels above the limit, up by 9.5% from 31,429 drivers in 2020. Almost 1,800 UK drivers were convicted of being in charge of a vehicle with alcohol levels above the legal limit, while a further 639 drivers were caught driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink in 2021.
In the first half of 2022, the records revealed that over 18,500 drivers have been caught driving while over the limit.
