The past two decades have seen a mixture of improved enforcement, tougher penalties, and a programme of publicity campaigns. The numbers of people killed on the roads in Great Britain in incidents involving drink-driving fell to their lowest levels in 1998 and 1999. However, it is estimated that there were still 460 such deaths per year and provisional estimates for 2000 suggest around 520 people were killed. In addition to those fatalities around 2,500 people are seriously injured in drink-drive accidents each year. It is estimated that there were of the order of 17,000 drink-drive casualties of all severities in 1999 and around 18,000 in 2000, the highest level since 1990. The estimates for 1999 suggest that 5 per cent of all road casualties and 13 per cent of road deaths occurred when someone was driving whilst over the legal limit for alcohol. Provisional estimates for 2000 show slightly higher proportions. This article examines the subject of drinking and driving. It first explains how drink-drive accidents and casualties are defined in these statistics. It then sets out the alcohol test limits that apply in the United Kingdom, followed by a description of the sources of data used to produce the drink-drive estimates with a discussion of their reliability. The article concludes with an analysis of the characteristics of drink-drive accidents and casualties.
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