Blogs

0330 808 1500
Customer Service/Sales/Claims
03 numbers are mobile friendly and use your inclusive minutes

Drink Driving Statistics 2022

A normal car is parked on a city street

Which UK Areas have the Highest Number of Drunk Driving Offences and Arrests?

According to Drinkdriving.org, an average of 3,551 people are injured in drunk-driving-related accidents each year in the UK. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Brake also found that driving while under the influence of alcohol is one of the biggest killers on UK roads, with even small amounts of alcohol impairing driving and increasing risk.

This is because alcohol slows down our reaction times, and even moderate amounts can impair judgment. The substance also slows down the brain, which affects our reasoning and self-control.

Drivers may feel a false sense of confidence when under the influence of alcohol and lose their inhibitions, meaning they are more likely to take risks. Although the rate at which alcohol exits the bloodstream is roughly 0.015 g per hour, according to the Department of Recreation and Wellness, alcohol can still show up in a blood test for up to 12 hours.

To explore this in more depth, we have submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to all police stations. We also retrieved data from government websites about the number of drunk driving-related offences in different areas around the UK recorded 2017 to 2021.

We investigated the UK areas with the five lowest and highest numbers of drunk driving offences, drink driving arrests, court proceedings following an arrest, and finally, the number of positive or refused breath tests.

It is important to note, however, that the City of London Police is responsible for an extremely small part of London, comprising only the financial square mile in the centre of the city. The resident population is also extremely small and consists of fewer than 9,000 individuals.

Drink Driving Offences

We have investigated which areas of the UK had the highest and lowest number of drunk driving offences between 2017 and 2021.

2017

Top Five Drink Driving Offences

  • Avon and Somerset Constabulary- 1725
  • Sussex Police- 1496
  • Kent Police- 1489
  • Devon & Cornwall Police- 1394
  • Northumbria Police- 1252

Bottom Five Drink Driving Offences

  • City of London Police- 0
  • Gwent Police- 584
  • Cumbria Constabulary- 706
  • Surrey Police- 867
  • North Wales Police- 878

2018

Top Five Drink Driving Offences

  • Avon and Somerset Constabulary- 1759
  • Kent Police- 1600
  • Devon & Cornwall Police- 1535
  • Sussex Police- 1352
  • Northumbria Police- 1278

Bottom Five Drink Driving Offences

  • City of London Police- 3
  • Gwent Police- 545
  • Cumbria Constabulary- 776
  • Bedfordshire Police- 826
  • North Wales Police- 950

2019

Top Five Drink Driving Offences

  • Avon and Somerset Constabulary- 2115
  • Devon & Cornwall Police- 1636
  • Kent Police- 1554
  • Nottinghamshire Police- 1443
  • Sussex Police- 1317

Bottom Five Drink Driving Offences

  • City of London Police- 7
  • Bedfordshire Police- 540
  • Gwent Police- 615
  • Surrey Police- 914
  • North Wales Police- 996

2020

Top Five Drink Driving Offences

  • Avon and Somerset Constabulary- 2131
  • Devon & Cornwall Police- 1376
  • Kent Police- 1355
  • Northumbria Police- 1331
  • Nottinghamshire Police- 1323

Bottom Five Drink Driving Offences

  • City of London Police- 1
  • Bedfordshire Police- 134
  • Gwent Police- 610
  • Cumbria Constabulary- 629
  • North Wales Police- 825

2021

Top Five Drink Driving Offences

  • Avon and Somerset Constabulary- 2085
  • Nottinghamshire Police- 1480
  • Devon & Cornwall Police- 1461
  • Kent Police- 1399
  • Northumbria Police- 1367

Bottom Five Drink Driving Offences

  • City of London Police- 8
  • Bedfordshire Police- 11
  • Gwent Police- 589
  • Cumbria Constabulary- 715
  • Surrey Police- 786

We also retrieved overall FOI data for the regions with the least and most number of drunk driving offences per 1000 residents between 2017 and 2015. The results are in the tables below:

Top Five Drink Driving Offences per 1000 residents

Constabulary Total number of offences Number of offences per 1,000 residents
Northumbria Police 5,305 16.4
Nottinghamshire Police 5,522 6.6
Cumbria Constabulary 2,872 5.7
Bedfordshire Police 1,511 5.1
North Wales Police 3,575 5.1

Bottom Five Drink Driving Offences per 1000 residents

Constabulary Total number of offences Number of offences per 1,000 residents
City of London Police 19 2.4
Kent Police 5,908 3.1
Sussex Police 5,136 3.1
South Wales Police 4,170 3.2
Devon & Cornwall Police 6,008 3.4

Drink Driving Arrests

We have also investigated the UK regions with the highest and lowest number of drunk driving arrests between 2017 and 2021.

2017

Top Five Driving Arrests

  • West Yorkshire Police- 2377
  • Lancashire Constabulary- 2012
  • Hampshire Constabulary- 1834
  • Sussex Police- 1488
  • Cheshire Constabulary- 1436

Bottom Five Driving Arrests

  • Humberside Police- 436
  • Bedfordshire Police- 514
  • Wiltshire Police- 640
  • Derbyshire Constabulary- 644
  • Leicestershire Police- 825

2018

Top Five Driving Arrests

  • West Yorkshire Police- 2463
  • Lancashire Constabulary- 2095
  • Hampshire Constabulary- 1927
  • Sussex Police- 1346
  • Cheshire Constabulary- 1281

Bottom Five Driving Arrests

  • Bedfordshire Police/Cleveland Police- 525
  • Wiltshire Police- 711
  • Derbyshire Constabulary- 723
  • Dorset Police- 902
  • Humberside Police- 944

2019

Top Five Driving Arrests

  • West Yorkshire Police- 2928
  • Lancashire Constabulary- 2251
  • Hampshire Constabulary- 1912
  • Cheshire Constabulary- 1319
  • Sussex Police- 1309

Bottom Five Driving Arrests

  • Dyfed-Powys Police- 662
  • Cleveland Police- 671
  • Bedfordshire Police- 686
  • Derbyshire Constabulary- 775
  • Wiltshire Police- 790

2020

Top Five Driving Arrests

  • West Yorkshire Police- 2849
  • Lancashire Constabulary- 2079
  • Hampshire Constabulary- 1751
  • Sussex Police- 1256
  • Humberside Police

Bottom Five Driving Arrests

  • Dyfed-Powys Police- 518
  • Cleveland Police- 585
  • Derbyshire Constabulary- 638
  • Bedfordshire Police- 669
  • Dorset Police- 695

2021

Top Five Driving Arrests

  • West Yorkshire Police- 2398
  • Lancashire Constabulary- 2086
  • Hampshire Constabulary- 1741
  • Sussex Police- 1187
  • Leicestershire Police

Bottom Five Driving Arrests

  • Dyfed-Powys Police- 438
  • Bedfordshire Police- 585
  • Cleveland Police- 586
  • Derbyshire Constabulary- 591
  • Wiltshire Police- 671

We also looked at the least and most number of drunk driving arrests per 1000 residents between 2017 and 2015. The results are in the tables below:

Top Five Drink Driving Arrests per 1000 residents

Constabulary Total number of arrests Number of arrests per 1,000 residents
Bedfordshire Police 2,979 10.1
Lancashire Constabulary 10,523 7
Cheshire Constabulary 6,267 5.69
West Yorkshire Police 13,015 5.65
Dorset Police 4,038 5.19

Bottom Five Drink Driving Arrests per 1000 residents

Constabulary  Total number of arrests Number of arrests per 1,000 population
Derbyshire Constabulary 3,351 3
Dyfed-Powys Police 1,618 3.1
Surrey Police 4,348 3.6
Cleveland Police 2,367 3.8
Sussex Police 6,586 3.9

Court Following Arrest

For the data regarding the number of individuals that have been required to go to court following arrest, we could only access data for Derbyshire Constabulary, which is explored in the table below:

Year Number going to court following arrest
2017 593
2018 670
2019 723
2020 606
2021 528

Positive or refused breath tests

Finally, we have looked at the regions of the UK that have the highest and lowest number of positive or refused breath tests between 2017 and 2019.

2017

Top Five Positive or Refused Breath Tests

  • Metropolitan Police Service- 4515
  • ​West Yorkshire Police- 3288
  • Cambridgeshire Constabulary- 2913
  • Thames Valley Police- 1906
  • Kent Police- 1839

Bottom Five Positive or Refused Breath Tests

  • City of London Police- 104
  • Cleveland Police- 378
  • Bedfordshire Police- 451
  • Warwickshire Police- 477
  • Lincolnshire Police- 519

2018

Top Five Positive or Refused Breath Tests

  • Metropolitan Police Service- 4557
  • West Yorkshire Police- 4075
  • Cambridgeshire Constabulary- 3156
  • Greater Manchester Police- 2216
  • Lancashire Constabulary- 1886

Bottom Five Positive or Refused Breath Tests

  • City of London Police- 101
  • Sussex Police- 227
  • Warwickshire Police- 240
  • Bedfordshire Police- 417
  • Gwent Police- 428

2019

Top Five Positive or Refused Breath Tests

  • Metropolitan Police Service- 4271
  • West Yorkshire Police- 3197
  • Cambridgeshire Constabulary- 2679
  • Greater Manchester Police- 2571
  • West Midlands Police- 2050

Bottom Five Positive or Refused Breath Tests

  • City of London Police- 139
  • Bedfordshire Police- 141
  • Warwickshire Police- 315
  • Sussex Police- 448
  • Wiltshire Police- 455

Exploring the data reveals that the City of London and Dyfed-Powys Police repeatedly experienced low levels of drink-related offences. However, the small figures for the City of London can be mainly attributed to the fact that they represent only a small area of the city centre.

Conversely, we found that the West Yorkshire Police Avon and Somerset Constabulary frequently had among the highest drunk driving arrests and offences.

Overall, we hope we have provided you with a deeper understanding of the number of drunk driving-related offences in different areas around the UK over the past five years.

If you have a car or you’re looking to buy one and require insurance, look no further than us. Here at Insurance Revolution, we can provide drink-driver insurance that suits your needs. We focus on delivering the very best service to people who ‌find it more difficult to get insurance.

If you have been convicted of a driving offence, we are specialists in drink drivers insurance. We focus on delivering the very best service to people who find it more difficult to get insurance.