POLICE are pleading with West Berkshire residents to not drink and drive this Christmas as they launch their annual anti drink-drive campaign.
The month-long campaign, part of a national crackdown supported by the Department of Transport and Association of Chief Police Officers, starts on Monday (December 1) and is aimed at reducing the number of drink drivers on the roads.
The campaign aims to convince all drink drivers that a drink drive conviction has the potential to ruin their life through a variety of legal and personal consequences.
Superintendent Mick Doyle, of Thames Valley Police Roads Policing Department, said: “Drinking and driving wrecks lives, most obviously the hundreds of lives and their loved ones who are killed each year but it also changes the lives of those selfish or stupid enough to drive when they are not fit to do so.
“I would ask those driving impaired how will you live your life having killed yours or somebody else’s loved one?
“We need the help of the public to put pressure on those who insist on putting others in danger by continuing to drink and drive.”
Last year, more than 2,100 drivers were breath tested in the Thames Valley area as part of the annual Christmas crackdown on drink and drug driving.
Fourteen per cent of those breathalysed between December 1, 2007 and January 1, 2008, tested positive for alcohol, a one per cent rise on 2006.
Supt Mick Doyle said the force was disappointed with last year’s figures and he urged residents not to take the chance, saying the consequences were not worth the risk.
Anyone who provides a positive breath test or refuses to provide one, faces losing their licence for at least 12 months and could face a six month jail term or a fine of up to £5,000.
If you know someone is drinking and driving, report them to police on 0845 8 505 505, or telephone Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.