The Midlands region holds the dubious honour of containing the three cities in the UK most affected by drink driving. Wolverhampton, Leicester and Coventry top the chart, according to analysis by the Abbey Care Foundation.
Downward trend
Since 2010, drink driving in the UK has looked to be on a downward trend. The number of failed or refused breath tests has dropped by 43% in the past 15 years, from 6,595 in 2006 to 3,746 in 2021. Between 2010 and 2020, the total number of casualties from drink driving decreased by 33% to 6,480, the lowest level ever recorded. The number of fatalities also fell by 9% over that ten years, although this fall was not large enough to be regarded as significant.
However in 2021, drink driving-related fatalities and casualties were both higher than in 2020. Time will tell whether 2021 represents a blip or a genuine reversal of the trend.
Step into Christmas
More drink drive offences are recorded in December than in other months. It’s hard to untangle whether this is because more tests are done in December or because more people drink and then drive during that month. Both, of course, can be true at the same time.
It isn’t just when celebrating that people make poor choices. Last Christmas, the RAC released figures showing that 8% of drivers aged 25-44 think they’ve driven while over the limit the morning after a party. The motoring organisation stressed the importance of playing it safe ‘the morning after the night before’.
The Midlands
For the Midlands, the figures are – no pun intended – sobering.
In the East Midlands, 8% of all casualties from reported road collisions occurred in incidents where at least one driver or rider was over the drink-drive limit – the highest proportion in England. The West Midlands comes in fourth at 6.2%.
The Abbey Care Foundation provides addiction treatment for those suffering with alcohol and substance misuse issues. They analysed Department for Transport figures for 2012-2021 and local authority figures from 2013 to 2022. They found that the top three cities in the UK for drink/drug-related incidents are Wolverhampton, Leicester and Coventry.
The analysis also reveals that an incident is most likely to occur between 11pm to 11:59pm, with an average of 18 fatal crashes reported annually in that hour.
In fact, closing time for pubs, bars, and clubs saw the highest incidence of drink-driving collisions overall, with intervals between 12am and 2:59am accounting for the second, third and fourth most dangerous times to drive.
Wolverhampton, Leicester and Coventry
In Wolverhampton, almost one in ten (9.4%) of collisions reported each year are caused by illicit substances or alcohol, 292% higher than the national average. Alcohol accounted for the majority, with eight road accidents per 100k of the population involving a drunk driver, compared to just 1.8 accidents per 100k that involved other substances.
The second-most affected city over the decade was Leicester, where 8.8% of road collisions involve alcohol or drugs, while Coventry is close behind in third place with 8.6%.
Public transport
Abbey Care notes that drink driving may be more prevalent in areas that are poorly serviced by public transport. They highlight the case of a college lecturer who pleaded guilty to driving drunk in Shrewsbury earlier this year. Matthew Callaghan, who lectures at the City of Wolverhampton College, told magistrates he had tried to book a taxi to take him home but found that “you can’t get one in Shrewsbury”. He went on to say that he “stupidly took a chance”.
It is an interesting corollary that the analysis shows the UK city least affected by intoxicated drivers is the one which is generally agreed to have the best public transport: London.
Think before you drink
Topping the UK’s drink driving chart is an achievement that nobody can celebrate. This Christmas, all of us at Central Bylines urge you to remember the words of a government road safety campaign from 1977:
Think before you drink before you drive.
