Informers on drink-driving

Press, 10 January 1981, Page 21

Informers on drink-driving

By KEN COATES, in London. 3

Police informers were responsible for a marked drop in drinking drivers in Britain over the Christ-mas-New Year holiday period. “Don’t drink and drive” campaigns are described as the most successful for many years. Accidents were fewer, and the number of positive road-side breathalyser tests was well down.

Police say people responded to their appeals to inform on drivers leaving pubs unsteadily and on reporting vehicles being driven erratically. In Humberside, 20 calls were received from informers.

Police believe that all the country’s 43 police forces should intensify campaigns against drinking and driving. In the Humberside area, where the unusual step was taken of making a

public appeal for people to inform on drunken drivers, accidents dropped from 306 during the Christmas and New Year period last year to 198 this year. In Merseyside, accidents dropped from 117 for the Christmas period last year to 78 this year, and the number of fatalities was halved. Roadside breathalyser te'sts which proved positive totalled 64 compared with 146. But fewer people were out drinking, as unemployment has changed social habits.

Publicans in West Sussex reported having experienced the worst festive season on record, from their point of view, with trade down by as much as 40 per cent in some village pubs. Publicans said this was a result of the “Don’t drink and drive” campaign, as well as to the recession.