15 people arrested in Lancashire for drink or drug driving in just 12 hours
It was part of a Road Policing Unit crackdown
Lancashire Police custody units were packed to the rafters at the weekend after the Roads Policing Unit arrested a staggering 15 people in just 12 hours for drink or drug-driving.
The spike occurred on Saturday night into Sunday morning. In comparison, the team arrested five people for drink or drug-driving during the same time period last weekend, and the weekend before they arrested eight people for the same offences in the same time period.
Those stopped and arrested this weekend (October 7th-8th) included:
• Two HGV drivers – one of whom was on duty at the time – who tested positive for drugs.
• A driver in Accrington, who was stopped in a residential area and gave a reading of 98 for alcohol. The legal limit is 35.
• A man who gave a reading of 126 for alcohol after being involved in a collision in Chorley.
• A driver near junction 13 of the M65, who almost reversed into an off-duty officer. The driver tested positive for cocaine.
• A man who tested positive for cocaine after being seen driving erratically on the M55.
• A man on an e-bike who tested positive for cocaine.
• And a man who was stopped after being seen driving through multiple red lights and hitting the kerb on the A59, before entering the M6. He gave a reading of 47 for alcohol at the scene.
In total over the weekend 22 people were arrested for impaired driving, with six of those for drug-driving, 13 of those for drunk-driving and three for either failing to give a sample or being over the limit for both alcohol and drugs.
Ch Insp Matt Willmot, of the Lancashire Roads Policing Unit, said: “These are staggering figures for such a short period of time, with Saturday night seeing a huge spike in arrests for this type of offence.
“However, we hope that these figures also show that we are out and about and are stopping those who think it is acceptable to put themselves and others at risk in this way.
“We know the majority of people would never dream of committing this kind of offence, but to those who do we say this: it is never, ever worth it.
“Both alcohol and drugs can stay in your system until well into the next day, or even longer depending how much you have consumed. And while you may feel you can drive safely, your reaction times and judgment will still be impaired.
“If you killed someone you would have that on your conscience for the rest of your life – not to mention the fact you could lose your job, lose friends and family and face time in prison.
“We cannot say for definite what caused this spike, but believe it could be connected to the unexpected nice weather. However, we will not rest on our laurels, and in response to these figures will be looking at resourcing in the coming weeks to ensure those who drink or drug drive cannot get away with it."
Other incidents of dangerous driving from the weekend include a man stopped after being seen doing 140mph on the southbound side of the M6 and a man who was stopped and arrested after fitting false blue lights to his vehicle. 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.