Data on the number of screening breath tests conducted by the police are available by police force area only. The most recently available figures in respect of Sussex are as follows:
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Total tests 20,800 21,800 17,300 17,200 15,200 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 police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Breath Tests Statistical Collection, held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
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The Government are committed to reducing drinking and driving through a combination of effective law enforcement, maintenance of a tough penalties regime and continuing investment in high-profile national publicity campaigns.
We have given the police new powers to carry out evidential roadside breath testing, subject to type approval of appropriate equipment. We have also included in the Road Safety Act 2006 a number of further measures designed to deter drink driving and reduce reoffending. These include enabling powers to require serious, including repeat, offenders to retake the driving test at the end of their driving disqualification, improvements to the operation of the drink drive rehabilitation scheme and provision for a statutory alcohol ignition interlock programme.
We have just launched a new £3 million multi-media publicity campaign aimed primarily, though not exclusively, at young, male drivers who are more likely to be involved in drink-related crashes than other driver categories. This is designed to emphasise the very serious consequences of being convicted for drink driving and provides a powerful deterrent message for potential drink drivers.
We have also announced, in the second three-year review of the Road Safety Strategy published in February 2007, that we intend to carry out a consultation on other ways of tackling drink driving, including ways of making police enforcement against drink driving easier. A consultation paper will be published by the end of this year.