From Monday 24 June, PSNI will be participating in a UK wide anti-drink drive campaign.
Chief Inspector Diane Pennington explained,
“While road safety remains a daily priority, over the coming fortnight, all police officers across Northern Ireland and the UK will be focussing on preventing and detecting drink driving.
Already this year, despite our repeated warnings, we have arrested 1,426 people for drink/drug driving. Each of these people will soon discover to their cost, everyday tasks they’d taken for granted may become much more difficult as a result of losing their driving license.
If you take the risk of driving after drinking, you can expect to be detected by police. You can expect to be prosecuted and lose your driving license. If you cause a collision in which someone is killed or seriously injured, you can expect a custodial sentence.
Any driver or motorcyclist stopped by police, whether for speeding, using a mobile phone, or committing any moving traffic offence can expect to be breathalysed. So too can anyone involved in a collision or who we suspect may have consumed alcohol or taken drugs.
We will also be making use of legislation first introduced in November 2016, which gives us powers to carry out breath tests at authorised vehicle checkpoints at key times of the day and night.
We all share the roads, so we all share the responsibility for road safety. Slow down. Never drive after drinking or taking drugs. Pay greater attention to your surroundings, and always wear your seatbelt. If everyone follows this advice, then together we can save lives on our roads.”
