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Driving Under Influence: Testing

Answer

Data held by the Ministry of Justice relate only to the number of screening breath tests taken for alcohol and the number positive or refused. The available information is given in the following table. Information is not collected centrally on subsequent evidential tests for alcohol.Tests for drug driving can only be taken using a device of a type approved by the Secretary of State. No type approved devices are yet available. Figures are not collected centrally on the tests which police carry out for impairment which may be due to a drug, These tests do not involve the use of specialist equipment.

The number of screening breath tests by period and police force area, England and Wales
	Total number of tests
Police force area	2004	2005	2006
Avon and Somerset	27,300	22,000	15,800
Bedfordshire	7,800	6,700	3,100
Cambridgeshire	12,300	12,500	12,500
Cheshire	20,200	22,000	35,700
Cleveland	8,100	10,800	11,300
Cumbria	8,400	13,600	13,800
Derbyshire	31,000	17,700	16,000
Devon and Cornwall	10.700	10,400	13,600
Dorset	7,000	7,900	8,700
Durham	6,100	7,700	6,900
Essex	25,300	34,200	28,400
Gloucestershire	7,100	9,100	10,100
Greater Manchester	19,900	18,900	18,100
Hampshire	38,400	38,300	34,800
Hertfordshire	7,300	11,900	12,700
Humberside	5,600	5,700	10,000
Kent	32,000	31,200	31,700
Lancashire	10,200	13,000	16,400
Leicestershire	¹15,800	14,400	10,000
Lincolnshire	11,300	11,400	10,600
London, City of	700	1,100	1,600
Merseyside	5,000	8,000	10,600
Metropolitan Police	61,500	67,500	65,000
Norfolk	4,800	10,400	7,800
Northamptonshire	3,200	5,200	4,300
Northumbria	9,800	9,300	7,900
North Yorkshire	8,600	9,300	10,100
Nottinghamshire	8,200	7,900	7,200
South Yorkshire	6,500	13,700	10,300
Staffordshire	13,700	14,300	12,700
Suffolk	10,600	8,900	9,100
Surrey	9,500	9,600	8,300
Sussex	15,200	18,000	18,700
Thames Valley	15,400	14,600	13,500
Warwickshire	5,500	4,800	4,500
West Mercia	8,000	8,800	11,300
West Midlands	6,600	6,900	6,200
West Yorkshire	16,900	15,400	18,000
Wiltshire	7,400	7,200	8,700
Dyfed-Powys	6,700	6,900	7,300
Gwent	1,600	2,000	1,700
North Wales	24,200	21,800	19,600
South Wales	16,700	16,300	17,100
Total	578,000	607,400	601,600
¹ Revised since publication of 'Motoring Offences and Breath Test Statistics, England and Wales, 2004' bulletin.
Note:
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

214751; 478 c1437-9W

Session

2007-08

Subjects

Breathalysers Driving under influence

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk