Lincolnshire Police launch Christmas crackdown on drink and drug driving
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We have launched a new road safety campaign to warn people of the consequences of drink and drug driving in the county during the festive period.
We were set up early at The Grandstand, Saxilby Road, Lincoln where we stopped over 100 cars to educate them on the risks of drink driving.
Inspector Jason Baxter of the Roads Policing Unit said:
"None of the drivers which we pulled over this morning tested positive, which is actually a good thing. When making stop checks today, we were able to carry out basic vehicle checks, and give advice on how to drive safely this winter especially around things like tyres. Education is probably the most important part of what we do and ultimately, it’s our job to keep people safe.”
We will be implementing extra enforcement activity on the county’s roads throughout December. Officers will be carrying out extra patrols throughout the day and night, and checkpoints will be set up in select locations with officers conducting drink and drug tests.
We launched the Roads Policing Unit earlier this year which means that there will be more officers than ever before patrolling the county’s roads.
Watch the anti drink-drive video from PC Steve Denniss of the Roads Policing Unit
Hi, I’m PC Steve Denniss and I’m a police officer with the Roads Policing Unit.
The Message is: Don’t drink and drive.
You may have noticed some police stop sites on your way into work or dropping your kids off at school this morning. We’re using this as an opportunity to educate drivers of the risk of drinking and driving.
There are the minority of people in Lincolnshire who break the rules and every year around Christmas time we find people who get a little carried away with the Christmas spirit.
Having a drink can seriously impair your decision making and make you more likely to have a road collision.
Alcohol affects everyone in different ways so there’s no magic formula to say how many hours it takes for alcohol to leave your system.
My advice is not to risk it. If you’re having a Christmas party don’t drink and drive that night and avoid driving the next morning too. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
During the Christmas period we will be on patrol morning, noon, and night. We’ll be stopping anyone suspected of drink driving and carrying out breath tests on the side of the road.
We’re taking a zero-tolerance policy to drink driving – if you blow over the limited you will be arrested. And if you are arrested this could mean that you’ll end up with a night in the cells, a driving ban, and a criminal conviction.
The Message is: Don’t drink and drive.
Inspector Jason Baxter said:
"We hear a lot of people saying that police are just out there trying to arrest drink drivers and we should be catching ‘real criminals’. Our main priority continues to be making our county, and our roads, safer. Over the last year three people died and 39 people were seriously injured in Lincolnshire, with drink and/or drugs listed as a contributing factor. Our job is to try to reduce this number, and if this campaign makes people think twice about getting out there and drink or drug driving that’s the whole point.”
Alcohol and drugs affect people in different ways; there is no magic formula to calculate how long it takes for these to leave your system.
With the usual Christmas parties, the World Cup matches taking place during the build up to Christmas, and New Year, we are expecting people to be socialising more and more.
Inspector Jason Baxter said:
“We know that people will want to get out and celebrate. We don’t want to stop you having fun, but please do so safely. Consider making other arrangements to get home, the cost of a taxi or the inconvenience of having to pick up your vehicle the next day is a much better alternative to facing the penalties of being arrested.”
If you want to support our campaign, please download the graphics below and share on your own social media channels with your friends, family, and colleagues. Help us to keep our county safe.
If you have concerns about anybody who is driving under the influence, please call us on 101 (or 999 if they are posing an imminent danger).
Or you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.