Police arrested 50 per cent more people over the Christmas crackdown on drink driving than they did last year.
The 2015/2016 Christmas and New Year campaign has now ended. It ran between December 1 and January 4.
Police say the arrests were due to officers being deployed in marked and unmarked vehicles in the ‘right places at the right time’.
Neighbourhood policing teams also targeted those who were driving under the influence of alcohol.
Twelve people were arrested for drink driving. Of those, two people have been charged with failing to provide a sample, five people have been charged with driving while drunk, four people had blood taken from them and results are pending and one person was released with no further action.
Last year, there were eight arrests and five charges.
A number of the arrests were made as a result of members of the public contacting the emergency services and informing us of potential offenders.
The police thanked them for their vigilance.
Sergeant Steven Lapsley of the roads policing unit said: ‘I am happy that the constabulary made 12 arrests this year in relation to drink driving. However, the fact that some individuals still choose this method of travel after having consumed alcohol is worrying. The chance of having a road traffic collision is massively increased if driving with alcohol in your system and ultimately you could kill yourself or an innocent member of the public, it’s simply not worth the risk.’
He added: ‘The slogan of “drink safe, drive safe, go safe” should not be forgotten just because Christmas is finished with. It should be everyone’s mentality every month of the year.’
{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/police-launch-christmas-drink-and-drugs-drive-campaign-1-7600136|The launch of the campaign.}