90 Wiltshire motorists arrested for drink and drug driving during Christmas campaign
The operation ran throughout December as it's usually a busier time for the roads policing team
In total, 90 drivers were arrested in Wiltshire throughout last month for drink or drug driving as the force ran their Christmas campaign.
In order to raise awareness of the dangers of driving while intoxicated and encourage people to not take risks, officers conducted extra patrols compared to the rest of the year.
46 people were arrested on suspicion for drink driving, while 44 were taken in by police on suspicion of drug driving.
These include a 36 year old woman who was stopped driving the wrong way down Rollestone Street in Salisbury and failed to provide a breath test.
Meanwhile, a 44-year-old man was stopped near Waitrose in Salisbury and is believed to have sprayed aftershave in their mouth, he was then arrested on suspicion of driving while unfit through drugs and obstructing a police officer.
All those arrested for drugs were released under investigation as the force waited for the results of the standard blood tests.
Meanwhile, the breakdown for drinking was:
- 33 charged
- 3 released under investigation
- 10 released with no further action
Inspector Mark Freeman, who leads Wiltshire Police's roads policing unit, said:
"This was an unusual drink and drug drive campaign, due to the Covid-19 restrictions throughout December, which led to less opportunities for people to get behind the wheel after socialising at pubs and bars.
However, the fact that 90 people were arrested shows that this is still very much an issue across Wiltshire and something we need to continue to tackle.
Just because this awareness campaign has now come to an end, doesn't mean that our enforcement action will cease. We will continue to do everything we can to keep our county safe, and we would of course continue to encourage members of the public to provide us with the vital intelligence needed to help get drink and drug drivers off our roads.
If you have concerns about someone you know, then please call us."
The force are asking people to call 999 if they believe a crime is being committed and somebody is already behind the wheel and over the limit.
Meanwhile, if you know someone who regularly drink or drug drives then you should call 101 and give them as much information as possible.
Sergeant Neil Bott said it was clear how much being intoxicated had impaired people's ability to drive safely:
"Overall 15 of these arrests were following a collision, including incidents where cars had crashed into walls, ditches and fields.
There was also an incident where a motorist collided with an ambulance while trying to get away from police, another where someone was caught driving the wrong way down a one-way street, and an incident where a driver allegedly sprayed aftershave into their mouth to try to make their breathalyser reading invalid.
We also had an arrest for driving while impaired, where someone was technically below the legal limit, but we believed the alcohol or drugs had impacted their driving standards to an extent which made it unsafe.
If your driving standard can be evidenced to be impaired then simply having drugs or alcohol in your system may lead to an impaired driving charge, even if the amounts are below the legal limit for general driving. It is always better to not drink or use drugs if you are going to be driving."