Drink-Driving Among Elderly Rising

NEW figures suggest drinking and driving among elderly motorists is on the rise. Police forces in the UK have reported that as many as 232 over-75s were caught driving over the legal limit last year, including a 93-year-old stopped in Devon.

According to insurer Swiftcover.com the number of over-75s offending has increased by 20% since 2010. The company's figures followed data from 42 of the 52 UK police forces requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

They showed that over-50s made up 15% of all drink-drive offenders. Southern England was the worst area, with south west England having the most over-75 offenders. The figures also revealed that outside London, the fewest incidents of older drink-driving were in north east England and Yorkshire.

Roman Bryl, underwriting manager at swiftcover.com, said: "Drink-driving is not acceptable at any age. Although great strides have been made to tackle this in younger people, the number of motorists drink-driving from the older generations is still worryingly high.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: "Road safety is a top priority and Britain's roads are some of the safest in the world. There has been a downward trend in the number of collisions caused by drink-driving over the past decade, with our campaigns helping to change attitudes and make drink-driving socially unacceptable.

"However, we are not complacent and that is why we are taking forward a package of measures to streamline enforcement against drink-driving - including approving new breath-testing equipment which will allow for more effective and efficient enforcement."

By Press Association reporters