New study reveals the most dangerous areas in England and Wales for drink driving
- Cambridgeshire named as the most dangerous area in England and Wales for drink driving
- Devon and Cornwall rank as the safest area
- Over 252,000 alcohol breath tests issued in England and Wales in the latest report
The most dangerous regions in England and Wales for drink drivers have been revealed in a new study.
The team at International Drivers Association have compared the latest GOV UK data, looking at the number of breath alcohol tests in each region (by police force), as well as the percentage of those which were positive. A total of 252,069 alcohol breath tests were recorded in England and Wales in the latest report.
The data was then organised from highest to lowest to reveal which regions had the highest percentage of positive tests.
Let’s take a look at the results:
| Police Force | Region | Percentage of positive breath tests (including refused) | Number of breath tests | Number of positive breath tests (including refused) |
| Cambridgeshire | Eastern | 33.5 | 7,437 | 2,488 |
| Gloucestershire | South West | 26.8 | 7,238 | 1,943 |
| Leicestershire | East Midlands | 24.5 | 3,906 | 958 |
| Suffolk | Eastern | 24.4 | 3,045 | 743 |
| West Midlands | West Midlands | 24 | 7,568 | 1,813 |
| Avon and Somerset | South West | 23.7 | 7,830 | 1,855 |
| West Yorkshire | Yorkshire and the Humber | 23.7 | 7,072 | 1,676 |
| South Yorkshire | Yorkshire and the Humber | 23.6 | 4,200 | 990 |
| Wiltshire | South West | 23.3 | 2,044 | 476 |
| Greater Manchester | North West | 20.9 | 10,278 | 2,148 |
Cambridgeshire is most dangerous region in England and Wales for drink driving, with the highest percentage of positive alcohol breath tests. 33.5% of tests were positive, or 2,488 out of 7,437.
Gloucestershire is the second most dangerous region for drink driving.1,943 of the 7,238 alcohol breath tests were positive, or 26.8 per cent.
In third place is Leicestershire, which had 24.5 per cent of alcohol breath tests being positive, whilst Suffolk had 24.4 per cent.
Also, on the list with the highest percentage are West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.
The study by International Driving Association also compared the areas in England and Wales with the lowest percentage of positive alcohol breath tests:
| Police Force | Region | Percentage of positive breath tests (including refused) | Number of breath tests | Number of positive breath tests (including refused) |
| Devon and Cornwall | South West | 11.3 | 10687 | 1205 |
| Lincolnshire | East Midlands | 11.4 | 4693 | 536 |
| Hampshire | South East | 11.7 | 9320 | 1090 |
| North Wales | Wales | 11.9 | 8698 | 1033 |
| Surrey | South East | 12.1 | 5136 | 622 |
| Essex | Eastern | 12.3 | 7850 | 963 |
| Cumbria | North West | 12.5 | 3720 | 464 |
| Sussex | South East | 13.3 | 6465 | 862 |
| Cleveland | North East | 13.3 | 2961 | 394 |
| Cheshire | North West | 13.5 | 7012 | 945 |
Devon and Cornwall are the safest areas in England and Wales for drink driving, with 11.3 per cent of alcohol breath tests being positive, or 1,205 out of a total of 10,687.
Lincolnshire is the second safest area for drink driving, with 11.4 per cent of breath tests being positive, whilst Hampshire is third with 11.7 per cent.
Also, on the list includes North Wales, Essex and Cheshire.
A spokesperson from International Driving Association said: “Drink driving should never be encouraged, and our research shows the areas in England and Wales which are the worst offenders when it comes to breathalyser tests.
“The legal alcohol limit in England and Wales for driving is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood or 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. However, there is no way to know how much you can drink and stay under the limit since it can depend on your weight, age, metabolism, the amount of food you’ve eaten and other factors.
“If you’re driving, it should be recommended that you don’t drink any alcohol at all, as alcohol can seriously alter your ability to judge speed or distance, and slow your reaction, meaning you are more likely to be involved in a collision.”
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Methodology: Data was collected from Gov UK during 2020 (the most recent alcohol breath test statistics in England and Wales). Once the number of breath tests in each police force in England and Wales was collated, the percentages of positive tests were calculated and organised from highest to lowest.
*Article provided by: https://internationaldriversassociation.com/
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