Police pull motorist today nearly 6.5 times over the drink drive limit

Officers from North Wales Roads Policing Unit say they have arrested a driver on suspicion of drink driving after allegedly being found to be nearly six and a half times over the legal drink-drive limit.

Police say a roadside breathalyser test indicated a reading of 223 Micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit is 35.

Officers haven’t been specific as to where the driver was stopped other than to say it was the ‘eastern team’ which operates in the Flintshire and Wrexham area.

In an update on social media a spokesperson for the police said:

“Our eastern team are currently dealing with drink driver who has provided a staggering roadside reading of 223! that is not a typo…223! I think that may be the highest yet (The legal limit is 35.)”

Our eastern team are currently dealing with drink driver who has provided a staggering roadside reading of 223! that is not a typo…223! I think that may be the highest yet (The legal limit is 35.) @NWPolice @dailypostwales #think #fatal5 @DeesideDotCom @wrexham @DraegerNews 😕 pic.twitter.com/LluE6ZlzmI

— NWPRoadsPolicingUnit (@NWPRPU) June 21, 2018

Police are currently in the middle of a month-long crackdown on drink and drug drivers, the summer campaign aims to reduce the number of drivers putting themselves and others at risk by driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

Led by South Wales Police, the campaign has seen increased resources on the roads across Wales.

In the last 50 years, road casualties caused by drink driving have fallen dramatically – this is due to change in attitude regarding drink driving and also the improvements in technology and processes by the Police.

However according to the Department for Transport there has been a six-fold increase in the number of people caught drug-driving across the UK.

March 2015 saw changes to the law around drug driving, bringing it in line with drink driving and since that change, the number of drivers caught within Wales driving under the influence of drugs has increased by 65%.

Superintendent Jane Banham of the Roads Policing Unit said:

“Driving under the influence is a crime with the potential of causing serious injury or death.

“As part of the campaign, officers will be stepping up their patrols, using a range of tactics and intelligence to take action against anyone who breaks the law.

Using the latest technology, police forces are better equipped than ever before to detect someone they expect of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

We hope to shine a light on the true impact of driving under the influence.

The sole reason we carry out these campaigns is to help keep people safe on the roads, and I would like to encourage anybody who may have concerns about those driving under the influence to contact us – they could possibly save a life.

Driving whilst under the influence has significant impact on people; the devastation caused to families following a fatal collision can be immeasurable.

Although this is a seasonal campaign our work to tackle drink and drug drivers happens 365 days a year – during 2017 North Wales Police made 882 drink drive arrests and 600 drug drive arrests. Please heed the warning.”

If you have information relating to someone you think is driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs, please contact North Wales Police on 101 or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency always dial 999.