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Breath test lottery is revealed

Jul 5 2009 by Robert Weatherall, Sunday Sun

NORTH motorists who drink and drive face a postcode lottery on whether they will be stopped by cops.

Figures seen by the Sunday Sun show the chances of being pulled over and breathalysed by the boys in blue vary massively depending on where you live.

Home Office figures show motorists in Cumbria have more chance of being breathalysed than anywhere else in England and Wales.

But drivers in neighbouring Northumbria are more likely to get away with being behind the wheel and over the limit as the force has one of the poorest records for stopping motorists.

Road safety charity Brake has hailed traffic officers in Cumbria and is urging other forces to follow their lead.

Figures for 2007, the most recent available, show officers in Cumbria stopped 3269 per 100,000 people in its area people. But in Northumbria that figure was just 529. Cleveland stopped 1817 people per 100,000 with Durham having a figure of 1360 and North Yorkshire 1344.

Cumbria also has the lowest number of people failing - just five per cent.

A spokeswoman for Brake said: “A robust testing policy is vital in reducing the number of drink drivers on the roads.

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