Xmas driving offences (FOI ref: 1879A/24)

Request 

 

1. The Number of Arrests

 

1. The total number of motorists arrested on: 
   1. Christmas Eve 
   2. Christmas Day 
   3. Boxing Day 
   4. New Year’s Eve 
   5. New Year’s Day 

 

2. Details of Arrests

 

1. The offences for which they were arrested, including but not limited to: 
   1. Speeding 
   2. Drink driving 
   3. Drug driving 
   4. Dangerous or reckless driving 
   5. Other motoring offences 

 

3. Severity of the Incidents

 

1. The context or severity of each incident, such as: 
   1. Whether the driver was pulled over or involved in an accident 
   2. What the driver was driving or riding
2. If there were any fatalities or injuries, and the severity of these outcomes  

4. Demographic Information

 

1. The age and gender of: 
   1. The perpetrators (arrested motorists) 
   2. Any victims involved (where applicable) 

 

5. Incident Summaries

 

1. If feasible, I would like to request a brief description of the incidents. 

 

We clarified with you on 25 November 2024 and you replied the same day.

 

Your amended request now reads:

 

Question 1 - The Number of Arrests 

   

The total number of people arrested on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day (for years above) – please separate the days.

 

Speeding 

Drink driving 

Drug driving 

Dangerous Driving

Careless driving 

Question 2 - Demographic Information 

The age and gender of the perpetrators (arrested motorists) for those in question 1.

Response 

Please find enclosed our response. 

Please note that the offence of speeding is a summary only offence (unless dangerous then it would be classified as dangerous driving).  A summary only offence for speeding is dealt by means of the issue of a notice of intended prosecution. Various outcomes may follow as a result.  Therefore, there is no speeding data below.

The offence titles searched for that is reflected in the data below are:

 

Driving – Excess Alcohol

Driving – Fail to provide breath test

Driving – In charge – excess alcohol

Driving – Causing death by dangerous driving

Driving – Causing serious injury by dangerous driving

Driving – Dangerous driving

Driving – Causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs

Driving – In charge – unfit through drink / drugs

Driving – Unfit through drink / drugs

Driving – Excess drugs

 

The data has been separated into separate tables to prevent any individual being identified, given the relatively small date range and data returned. For example, where the age, date, and gender are all put together then an individual may easily be identified.

The release of personal data / or where a person may be identified is exempt by virtue of Section 40 (2) FOI Act 2000.

Together with the local authorities and the combined authority we are working collectively for safer roads. We must all work in partnership to bring down the speeds /incidents on our roads and reduce the number of collisions.

Please note that the arrests are higher than in question 1, this is because there were multiple arrests reasons for one event, for example, a person who was arrested for dangerous driving would also have been arrested for excess alcohol at the same time.  The stats in question 1 reflect no duplicate incidents.

 

Question 1:

 

Date	Number
24-Dec-19	12
25-Dec-19	20
26-Dec-19	13
31-Dec-19	13
01-Jan-20	21
24-Dec-20	12
25-Dec-20	18
26-Dec-20	14
31-Dec-20	11
01-Jan-21	19
24-Dec-21	11
25-Dec-21	16
26-Dec-21	9
31-Dec-21	6
01-Jan-22	19
24-Dec-22	13
25-Dec-22	7
26-Dec-22	10
31-Dec-22	19
01-Jan-23	14
24-Dec-23	15
25-Dec-23	11
26-Dec-23	9
31-Dec-23	12
01-Jan-24	14
Total	338

Question 2:

 

Age at Arrest regarding driving offences	Reason for Arrest				Total
	Alcohol	Dangerous	Drink/Drugs	Drugs
16	0	8	0	0	8
17	0	7	1	0	8
18	1	7	3	0	11
19	2	5	5	1	13
20	6	3	3	1	13
21	5	3	2	0	10
22	2	7	9	1	19
23	6	3	1	0	10
24	4	5	6	1	16
25	10	5	11	1	27
26	4	2	2	1	9
27	8	1	11	0	20
28	7	1	4	0	12
29	2	4	10	0	16
30	6	0	4	0	10
31	12	3	11	0	26
32	3	3	7	0	13
33	7	2	12	2	23
34	5	2	6	0	13
35	3	1	4	0	8
36	3	3	5	0	11
37	4	3	5	0	12
38	1	0	5	1	7
39	2	0	7	0	9
40	4	0	5	3	12
41	4	0	4	0	8
42	6	3	6	0	15
43	2	0	4	0	6
44	1	1	0	0	2
45	1	0	0	0	1
46	7	0	0	0	7
47	2	1	2	0	5
48	1	1	3	1	6
49	2	0	4	0	6
50	3	0	0	0	3
51	3	0	3	0	6
52	2	0	0	0	2
53	1	0	0	0	1
54	2	0	0	0	2
55	0	0	4	0	4
57	0	0	1	0	1
59	1	0	0	0	1
60	1	0	2	0	3
61	0	0	1	0	1
63	2	0	0	0	2
64	1	0	2	0	3
70	1	0	0	0	1
72	0	0	1	0	1
73	1	0	0	0	1
Total	151	84	176	13	424

 

Please note that this data should be interpreted with caution. Comparing numbers of incidents/crimes can be misleading and does not necessarily indicate the likelihood of someone being a victim of crime. In addition, the number of incidents/crimes recorded in an area over a period of time can be influenced by a number of factors. Consequently, statistics on incidents/crimes for one period may not necessarily be a good indicator of future incidents in that area. 

Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that this data has been extracted from a number of data sources used by forces for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request may be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are considered when interpreting the data. 

The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of data which has relevance to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be considered when those data are used.  

If you decide to write an article / use the enclosed data we would ask you to take into consideration the factors highlighted in this document so as to not mislead members of the public or official bodies, or misrepresent the relevance of the whole or any part of this disclosed material.