THE States police have said they are ‘happy’ with the low number of drink-driving arrests made this Christmas but will not be ‘satisfied’ until everyone gets the messages that the offence is unacceptable.
The force have arrested six people during their annual festive drink-driving campaign, having stopped 990 vehicles and breathalysed 97 individuals.
Inspector Callum O’Connor urged Islanders to continue to remember that drink-driving is ‘totally unacceptable’.
‘We’re very happy with the low number of arrests but we can never be satisfied until every driver is instilled with the message that drinking and driving do not mix.
‘We’d like to once again highlight the drink-drive campaign – asking Islanders to recognise that drinking alcohol and then driving a vehicle is totally unacceptable and puts lives at risk,’ he said.
Last night our officers spoke with a person who they suspected of driving whilst under the influence of alcohol
They subsequently arrested the driver for failing to provide a specimen of breath
The driver is due to be charged for court today
Save lives: Don’t drink and drive pic.twitter.com/zcSTt9bjZE
— St Peter Honorary Police (@StPeterHonPol) December 19, 2021
A spokesperson for the force added that last weekend in town was relatively quiet and Islanders had generally followed Covid-19 guidance.
They said: ‘Despite expectations that it would be a busy weekend we only really experienced normal weekend [level of] incidents.
‘We saw the usual weekend behaviour linked to drink – however, credit to licensees for door staff managing the high numbers so well. And also credit to the public themselves for behaving so responsibly.’
They added: ‘We’d like to encourage people to drink sensibly and to recognise when they have had enough. Please also take account of the Covid-19 situation – keep yourselves and others as safe as possible. Take a lateral-flow test before venturing out.
‘We want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a healthy and happy new year.’
