Sharp fall in number of alcohol breath tests by police in Sussex
Police cuts have been blamed for the record low number.
Police officers in Sussex carried out 87 per cent fewer alcohol breath tests on drivers last year than a decade previously, figures show.
The AA said the decline in roadside tests across England and Wales was "worrying" and blamed police cuts for the record low number.
Home Office figures show 3,669 breath tests were conducted by Sussex Police in 2019 – 87 per cent fewer than in 2009, when there were 28,665.
Of those last year, drivers failed or refused to provide 448 – 12 per cent of all tests.
The number of tests reached its lowest in 2018, when there were 2,434, although there was no data available for 2017.
Across England and Wales, the number of roadside tests fell to 285,000 in 2019 – their lowest level since comparable records began in 2002.
This is down 12 per cent from the previous year and a reduction of 57 per cent from the peak of 670,000 tests in 2009.
Across the two nations, motorists refused or failed 47,223 – 17 per cent of all tests, which was the highest rate since 2005.
AA president Edmund King blamed the "massive reduction in the number of specialist traffic officers" for the reduction in testing.
He added:
"While cameras are a useful tool in helping police our roads, we cannot solely rely on them.
"A camera cannot stop a drink-driver, or pull over someone driving carelessly, so having more cops in cars will help eliminate poor and dangerous driving.
"The lack of roads police has led to drivers thinking they can get away with certain offences."
A recent report by the parliamentary advisory council for transport safety found that the number of officers dedicated to roads policing in England and Wales fell by nearly a fifth between 2015 and 2019.
The latest Department for Transport figures show there were 5,890 crashes on Britain’s roads involving at least one driver over the alcohol limit in 2018 - a figure which has stayed largely the same for the past six years.
In response to the Home Office data, RAC roads safety spokesman Simon Williams said:
"These are extremely worrying figures and will only further arouse suspicion from drivers that road traffic laws are simply not being properly enforced."
Police can make someone take a breath test if they suspect they have been driving, or trying to drive, with alcohol in their body.
They can also order one if the driver has committed a traffic offence while their vehicle is moving, or if they have been involved in an accident.
It is a crime to refuse a breath test, unless the driver has a reasonable excuse, such as a medical condition.
The Home Office data also showed that two tests were carried out in Sussex for every 1,000 people – the lowest across England and Wales, apart from the City of London which has a very small population.
The Government said drivers being more aware of the law and police prosecuting under more serious offences could be some of the reasons why numbers are falling.
A spokeswoman added:
"Enforcement is only one way in which we ensure our roads remain amongst the safest in the world, with a robust regulator system to ensure drivers are properly trained and vehicles are adequately maintained.
"How roads policing is undertaken and how available resources are deployed is the responsibility of individual chief officers and police and crime commissioners."