Drink-drive deaths double in Scotland in a decade
The number of drink-drive deaths on Scotland’s roads has doubled in the past ten years.
A report from Transport Scotland published on Wednesday (October 26) shows there were 20 fatalities in 2020 (the latest year for which these estimates are available) – compared with ten in 2010.
The overall number of alcohol-related casualties was down, however, by 66 per cent over the same period – from 740 to 250.
Almost half of Scottish motorists (49.5 per cent) involved in a crash last year were breathalysed by the police, with 3.5 per cent testing positive. This failure rate has been rising over the past few years.
“At nearly 50 per cent the proportion of breath tests by Police Scotland is higher than England and Wales, where only 40 per cent of motorists are tested after an accident,” comments Hunter Abbott, managing director of breathalyser firm AlcoSense.
“The failure rate in Scotland is also much lower, at 3.5 per cent compared with six per cent over the border.
“It’s encouraging to see drink-drive accidents decreasing – but 20 fatalities is 20 deaths too many.
“Whilst the lowering of the legal limit has resulted in a hardening of attitudes towards drink-driving, there’s still a reckless minority who flout the law”.
The highest testing rate was in Dumfries and Galloway, where two-thirds of motorists were breathalysed after an injury accident.
But in Greater Glasgow it was just over one third – despite the city being the drink and drug-drive hotspot of Scotland. Crime data shows there were 917 ‘driving under the influence’ offences in Glasgow in 2021/22, higher than anywhere else in the country.
The biggest failure rate was in Ayrshire where five per cent of drivers tested positive after an accident, despite being one of the lowest areas the previous year. In Fife just one per cent of motorists failed the test.
Overall, though, Transport Scotland says the latest available estimates suggest that the number of drink-drive accidents fell by 64 per cent between 2010 and 2020 – from 530 accidents to 190.
The Scottish drink-drive limit was lowered in December 2014 from 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood (0.80‰ BAC) to 50mg (0.50‰ BAC).
Even at 0.10‰ BAC (one fifth of the Scottish limit) you are still 37 per cent more likely to be involved in a fatal crash, research shows.
The finalised Transport Scotland statistics for 2021 show that 140 people were killed in reported road accidents in Scotland in 2021, one fewer than in 2020.
The overall number of casualties rose slightly in 2021 from record lows in 2020 (from 5,056 to 5,103).