Urgent action needed as drink-drive figures stall, says Brake

UK road safety charity Brake is calling on the government to take urgent action after figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) show little change in the number of people killed because of drink-driving. Government figures reveal that the number of deaths involving a driver under the influence of alcohol was 240 in 2014. That figure has been consistently been reported since 2010 and looks set to continue if the provisional estimate for the 2015 figures proves to be accurate (200-290 killed).
August 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
UK road safety charity 4235 Brake is calling on the government to take urgent action after figures released by the 1837 Department for Transport (DfT) show little change in the number of people killed because of drink-driving.

Government figures reveal that the number of deaths involving a driver under the influence of alcohol was 240 in 2014. That figure has been consistently been reported since 2010 and looks set to continue if the provisional estimate for the 2015 figures proves to be accurate (200-290 killed).

Brake says that a road user group that has been over-represented in the government figures is men; 70 per cent of drink-drive deaths in 2014 were males and 77 per cent of those killed and seriously injured. This figure is a cause for serious concern and Brake is calling on the government to do something to increase awareness and compliance among male drivers in particular.

Unlike 2013, the age group shown as being especially at risk of dying in a drink-drive crash in 2014 was 25-39 year-olds, which accounted for a quarter of drink-drive deaths in 2014.

However, Brake cautiously welcomes the fall in 17-24 year old drivers dying as a result of drink-driving, which dropped from 25 per cent to 21 per cent between 2013 and 2014.

In addition, the number of people seriously injured by a drink-drive collision has fallen for the third consecutive year. This decrease is a promising sign, as is the reduction in the number of overall drink-drive casualties which has reached its lowest level on record (5,620). Brake cautiously welcomes this news, but urges the government to focus its attention on reducing drink-drive deaths as well as injuries on the roads.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • NTSB calls for immediate action on collision avoidance systems for vehicles
    June 12, 2015
    A report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) outlines the life-saving benefits of currently available collision avoidance systems and recommends that the technology become standard on all new passenger and commercial vehicles. The report, The Use of Forward Collision Avoidance Systems to Prevent and Mitigate Rear-End Crashes, stresses that collision avoidance systems can prevent or lessen the severity of rear-end crashes, thus saving lives and reducing injuries. According to statistics fro
    Read More
  • Putting a stop to intersection indecision
    March 9, 2015
    David Crawford takes a look at innovations to reduce crashes at rural intersections. Intersection crashes continue to represent a worryingly large share of deaths and serious injuries across US highway networks. Statistics from the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration show that an average of 21% of road traffic accident deaths occur at crossings. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) calculates that intersection crashes account for 48% of all injury-related i
    Read More
  • Changing driving conditions need ongoing driver training
    January 23, 2012
    Trevor Ellis, chairman of the ITS UK Enforcement Interest Group, considers the role of ongoing driver training in increasing compliance. It is over 30 years since I passed my driving test. The world was quite a different place then, in that there were only half the vehicles there are now on the UK's roads, mobile phones did not really exist and (in the UK at least) the vast majority of us drove cars which by today's standards exhibited dreadful dynamic stability and were woefully underpowered.
    Read More
  • Interactive map reveals the UK’s riskiest roads
    November 20, 2018
    The A254 between the junction with A28 in Margate and the junction with the A255 near Ramsgate is the UK’s riskiest road, according to an interactive Dangerous Road Map. There were 26 fatal and serious crashes per billion vehicle kilometres on this road, say motor insurer Ageas and the Road Safety Foundation (RSF). Both organisations are now calling on an immediate investment from the UK government of £75 million, and the same amount annually for five years thereafter to improve the country’s riskiest
    Read More

Highlighted Content