Three percent of drink drivers still on the roads

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Three percent of drink drivers still on the roads

New research from LV= car insurance has found that hundreds of people convicted of drink driving are still on the roads.

The insurer submitted a Freedom of Information request which revealed that there were 55,539 drink driving convictions in 2010, but 1,480 (around 3%) were not disqualified from driving and are still, legally, on the roads.

In addition, 2.6% were cautioned or convicted of a drink driving offence within the same year, meaning that some repeat offenders are not being banned from driving.

The City of London and Suffolk are most relaxed when it comes to letting drink drivers retain their licences, with 4.7% of offenders still on the roads.

However, Cumbria and Warwickshire permit just 1.3% of those found guilty to keep their right to drive.

LV= car insurance MD Selwyn Fernandes described driving under the influence of alcohol as a serious offence that usually leads to automatic disqualification and urged drivers to take heed of the law.

In September LV= discovered that 10,000 drivers were legally driving on British roads despite earning themselves sufficient points to warrant a ban.