Christmas Drink Drive Campaign a wasted effort?

A DYNAMIC multi-media Christmas drink drive campaign aimed primarily at 17 to 29 year old males, launched at the start of the month, is a potential waste of money says road safety champion GEM Motoring Assist.

The organisation that works for the safety of all road users believes a lack of police powers especially in the areas of evidential roadside breath testing and random stop and test legislation will frustrate the effectiveness of the new campaign that features TV and radio advertising, cinema advertising, pub ambient advertising, partnership marketing and online viral messaging.

GEM also has evidence that the UK now has one of the lowest screening rates in Europe as police resources are diverted away from breath testing motorists for drink driving.

“Yet figures suggest a 28% rise in drink drive deaths since 1999,” said David Williams, Chief Executive of GEM. “One in five drivers killed on the roads are above the legal limit.”

Evidence that the nation’s mood is strengthening against drink driving comes from the GEM web site at motoringassist.com where an online poll reveals that 80% of the public who voted believe the police should be given the power of random breath testing.

Britain’s police forces are also keen to introduce evidential roadside breath testing whereby legally enforceable proof of drink driving is obtained on site without the need for a visit to a police station to give blood or urine samples.

Legislation allowing evidential roadside breath testing has been in place for more than a year but its introduction has been delayed because the Home Office has not given type approval for the equipment to carry out the new law.

“Evidential roadside breath testing has been approved and used in Sweden since 1989,” said David. “If the Swedes are confident in the system after more than 15 years it is difficult to understand the delays caused by our own Home Office. Why don’t they just ring up their Swedish counterpart?”

David explained: “While GEM fully supports the Department for Transport’s THINK! campaign it is difficult to understand the rationale in spending hundreds of thousands of pounds at Christmas to dissuade young men from drinking and driving and then not giving the police the means to combat the problem on our danger filled roads.”