Pub scheme hopes to send safety message in Cambridgeshire drink drive crackdown

It's part of a month-long campaign to tackle the issue

PC Nick Southern is Cambridgeshire Police's casualty reduction officer
Author: Dan MasonPublished 6th Dec 2023

Drivers in Cambridgeshire are being told to sign up to a scheme that aims to crack down on drink and drug driving this month.

Police say more than 40 pubs and venues across the county have signed up to the 'I'm DES' (designated driver) scheme where participating businesses sell discounted soft drinks to designated drivers.

The scheme, led by the Vision Zero Road Safety Partnership, is part of a month-long crackdown on drink and drug driving to help reduce the number of road collisions caused by drink and drug drivers.

PC Nick Southern is Cambridgeshire Police's casualty reduction officer:

"The idea is to give customers a heavy discount that's still encouraging someone to remain sober because we don't want them drink driving with, for example, three or four people in the car," he said.

"It's not going to cause people to drink and drive, it's definitely going to go in the right direction but come the end of this month, we'll compare it with previous months and see if there has been a reduction (in drink drive offences)."

More than 600 drink-drug drive arrests this year

Figures from Cambridgeshire Police found so far this year, 690 suspected drink or drug drivers have been arrested, compared to 812 arrests in the whole of last year.

And since the start of 2022, at least 230 people have been killed or injured on roads in the county because of a drink or drug driver.

Home Office data also showed in Cambridgeshire, 9 drivers per 1,000 population were breath tested in 2020, almost double the national average.

"Even if it stops one drink driver, it would've worked"

"Anyone who would go to that venue would be more likely to take up that offer because otherwise if they're not interested in taking it up, they wouldn't go to that venue," Mr Southern said.

"Even if it stops one drink driver, I think that (the scheme) would have worked.

"Within Cambridgeshire, we have seen a slight reduction in our 'killed and seriously injured' collisions, and drink driving is one of the main factors behind these so this (campaign) is huge."

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.