24 arrests for alleged drink/ drug driving in Derry & Strabane over December

The number of arrests made in the city and district was the same as for the month of December the previous year.

Meanwhile overall across the north, almost 300 people were arrested for alleged drink/drug drive offences over the month to January 1, 2022 during the Christmas campaign.

Figures released show that 6,699 preliminary breath tests were conducted across NI. This resulted in 295 arrests, representing an increase of 5.4% compared with the same period last year (280).

Speaking about the NI figures, Head of Road Policing Chief Inspector Graham Dodds claimed: “At the start of the campaign we told the public that we would be out across the road network focusing on those drivers who take the selfish risk of drink or drug driving. Almost 300 people did not heed that warning and now find themselves going into 2022 facing the consequences of their actions.

“The highest reading detected during the campaign was 124 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millimetres of breath - the legal limit being 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. Yet again our enforcement action detected a young person, aged 16, who shouldn’t have been driving on the road, let alone driving under the influence.

“Drink or drug driving is one of the main causes of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads. There is simply no excuse for this dangerous behaviour and we will be unrelenting in our determination to detect and arrest those drivers who shamefully put lives at risk.”