With the men’s FIFA World Cup tournament in full swing, Operation Limit, a nationwide crackdown on drink and drug driving, has also begun. All of 43 UK police forces have increased efforts to catch drink and drug drivers. The 6-week long campaign which coincides with the World Cup and Christmas period is being coordinated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and National Roads Policing Operations and Intelligence (NRPOII). Its objective is to reduce serious injury and death, and disrupt criminal activity on the UK road network by targeting those who engage in high-harm behaviour, specifically driving a vehicle while under the influence of drink and/or drugs.
The initiative comes as statistics recently released by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) indicate that 206 drug and drink driving offences are committed every day in England and Wales – a total of 75,159 offences.
The newly published data highlights that convictions for drug driving have more than trebled over the past five years from 7,683 in 2017, to 27,962 by the end of 2021. Worryingly, there has also been a 13% growth in drink driving cases in the past year, with 33,742 motorists appearing in court in 2021.
Drink and drug driving is illegal. It not only puts your safety, and the safety of other road users, at risk, but if convicted, could result in the loss of your job.
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