Drink driving: women ‘aren’t getting the message’

Victoria Martin, a chief inspector working for the Police Federation, said: “We’ve seen a steep decline in men drink driving over the years, with targeted advertising campaigns, which is great, but women don’t seem to be getting the same message.”

“It seems we have a worrying trend, with females still flouting the drink drive limit, sometimes scarily unaware, putting themselves and others in danger as well as adding to the drain on police resources.”

She added that female drink driving figures from the last 10 years have stayed “about the same”, while the number of men caught driving under the influence has halved.

Lowering the limit

Figures produced by Social Research Associates suggest that many women do not know how much alcohol constitutes being over the limit, and nearly one in six woman surveyed admitted to driving when they believed themselves to be over the limit.

The Police Federation also wants the drink-driving limit lowered in England and Wales, dropping from 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood to 50mg, bringing the threshold in line with Scotland, which “saw a marked reduction in failed breathalyser tests as soon as the law was changed last year”.

The new rules have proved to be controversial, with landlords blaming the change in the law for poor sales.

Drink driving issues are set to be discussed at the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) annual conference. The three-day event starts today, with Theresa May delivering her first major speech since being reinstated as home secretary.