Topping polls can bring accolades for individuals and cities alike. There are however times when winning is the last thing that anybody wants. That said, if you conduct a study, or undertake research, somebody is always going to come out on top, whether they like it or not. Here, we look at those cities in the UK that have been unfortunate enough to top a recent study into drink driving. These are the cities that have most often fallen foul of UK drink driving laws and have offered the greatest source of work to their drink driving solicitors. Polls that nobody would want to win. So who has come out on top?
And the winner is…
Crewe in Cheshire would perhaps like to be known for its railway station rather than the number of drink driving charges brought. However, in 2016, for the second year in a row, it came top in a list of UK cities. The study, run by price comparison website MoneySuperMarket, compared postcodes across the country and set out those which had the highest number of drivers who had convictions for drink driving on their policies. The policy covered 9.8million policies, and so whilst this isn’t complete, it is far from insignificant.
What is perhaps the most pleasing part of the story is that the number of convictions was continuing to decrease. The public view on drink driving has changed and there has been an impact from hard hitting publicity campaigns.
Crewe came out on top with 1.66 convictions per 1000 drivers. However as a whole, Wales contributed more to the top ten cities than other countries within the UK. Llandrindnod Wells, Swansea, Cardiff, Llandudno, and Newport all featured in the top ten cities. Outside Wales, Plymouth Hereford and Blackpool featured.
London postcodes actually dominated those areas with lower conviction rates with northwest London having the lowest rate at 0.53 convictions per 1000 drivers. Outside of London, the bottom ten cities include Ilford, Luton and Bradford.
It might surprise some to learn that younger drivers had lower conviction rates, but perhaps not that the study found men more likely than women to get behind the wheel of a vehicle whilst under the influence.
Whichever city you live in and regardless of gender or age, it should always be remembered just how severe the impact of drink driving charges and moreover a conviction can be. Driving whilst under the influence carries an obligatory 12 month fine, 3 years if it is the second conviction in the last 10 years. No matter the hardship that losing your licence may cause, be it the loss of employment and hence livelihood and the ramifications that this will have, the ban is none discretionary. Whilst your drink driving solicitor can offer mitigation in terms of any fine or possible prison sentence, you will lose your licence.
UK drink driving law has some of the most severe penalties in Europe, and the costs of a conviction have been estimated to be between £20,000.00 and £50,000.00. That is an expensive mistake whichever city in the UK you live in.
Regardless of where you live, drink driving charges will profoundly affect you much more than it will any nationwide statistics. So forget about the poll in terms of where you live, that really does not matter. What matters is that you make good decisions based on what is best for you. After all you are more than just another statistic aren’t you?
