The PSNI has confirmed that in Northern Ireland, almost 300 people were arrested for drink/drug driving offences throughout the 2021 festive period, with 23 people arrested in the Fermanagh and Omagh policing district alone.
The Christmas campaign ran from December 1, 2021, to January 1, 2022.
Initial figures released today (January 24) show that 6,699 preliminary breath tests (PBTs) were conducted across Northern Ireland.
This resulted in 295 arrests for drink/drug driving-related offences, representing an increase of 5.4 per cent compared with the same period last year (280).
In the Fermanagh and Omagh district, 23 people were arrested for drink/drug driving offences, which is two less arrests than during the same period last year (25).
Image: PA
Head of Road Policing, Chief Inspector Graham Dodds, said: “At the start of the campaign we told the public that we would be out across the road network focusing on those drivers who take the selfish risk of drink- or drug-driving.
"Almost 300 people did not heed that warning and now find themselves facing the consequences of their actions.
“The highest reading detected during the campaign was 124 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millimetres of breath - the legal limit being 35 micrograms of alcohol.
"Yet again, our enforcement action detected a young person, aged 16, who shouldn’t have been driving on the road, let alone driving under the influence.
“Drink or drug driving is one of the main causes of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads.
"There is simply no excuse for this dangerous behaviour and we will be unrelenting in our determination to detect and arrest those drivers who shamefully put lives at risk.”
During the Christmas drink drive campaign, initial figures show that PSNI officers conducted more than 6,699 PBTs, a decrease of 498 (6.9 per cent) on the same period last year.
In terms of the 2021/22 statistics, the PBT figures are based on an extract of the data on January 19 and are likely to increase as more information is uploaded to the system.
The arrest figures and evidential figures were extracted on January 5. These figures are therefore provisional and subject to change.
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