Drink driving amongst NI male drivers an issue as festive season approaches

The latest PSNI data on motoring offences, analysed by CompareNI.com, showed that from the 1st September 2023 to 31^st August 2024, males accounted for 29,267 of all motoring offences committed in Northern Ireland.  In comparison, women accounted for just 6,730 of all motoring offences during the same time period – meaning 8 in 10 of all offences were committed by men.*

Drink driving remains within the top five motoring offences, an issue of concern as the festive season approaches. These recent figures for drink or drug driving show 2,355 offences by men and 584 by women.

A recent survey by CompareNI, Northern Ireland’s largest price comparison site, revealed nearly a quarter of drivers, 24%, say drink or drug drivers is their biggest fear on the roads this winter.

Last Christmas, the PSNI recorded nearly 300 arrests for drink or drug driving in just one month, from 1^st December 2023 – 1st January 2024, 83% of which were male.**

The highest number of arrests were made in Belfast (65), Derry City and Strabane (37) and Mid Ulster (36) – while Fermanagh and Omagh experienced the largest decrease in arrests when compared with the same period last year (from 31 to 9).

Over half of those arrested were between 30 and 49 years old.  The youngest person arrested for drink or drug driving offences during the PSNI 2023/24 Christmas campaign was 14 years old, while the oldest was 82.**

The highest evidential breath test reading recorded over the campaign was 159µg/100ml – over four and half times the legal limit. 

The legal alcohol limit for drivers in Northern Ireland is 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – in Scotland it’s even less, at 22 microgrammes.

A rising issue is the lack of awareness of drug or drunk driving the following morning.  A good night’s sleep, coffee, breakfast or a cold shower will not actually help drivers sober up*** – only time will reduce the alcohol in the body, with one in five drivers convicted for drink driving caught the next morning.****

Commenting on the figures, Ian Wilson, car insurance expert and Managing Director of CompareNI.com, said: “It’s positive  to see the number of overall road offences in Northern Ireland continuing to decrease, with speeding in particular significantly down in the last 12 months.

“However, it’s shocking that drink or drug driving is still such a prevalent issue. With the festive season approaching there’s real cause for concern given that over half of the district council areas saw an increase in arrests last Christmas.

“The CompareNI survey results showed 83% of respondents acknowledging that drink driving is more of an issue at Christmas time, with 43% saying they know of someone who has driven over the legal limit, which is frightening.

“However, it is positive to see the survey results returned 71% were in favour of changing the law to zero alcohol behind the wheel.

“With a wider range of zero alcohol wines and beers and an increase in public transport options across Northern Ireland, it is hoped that this Christmas will see a dramatic reduction in drink driving offences.” 

	Offence	Female	Male
1	Insurance	1173	5220
2	Speeding	1411	3671
3	Careless driving	877	3471
4	Construction & use	346	2384
5	Drink or drug driving	584	2355
6	Driving licence	407	2136
7	Failing to stop / remain / report collision	387	1855
8	Dangerous driving	154	1333
9	L & R driver	207	1286
10	Driving whilst disqualified	94	995
11	Mobile phone	192	896
12	Miscellaneous	87	818
13	Vehicle TADA / tampering	88	773
14	Vehicle test certificate	141	595
15	Seatbelt	105	472
16	Parking	221	367
17	Non-driver	186	301
18	Fraudulent use / declaration	23	182
19	Breach of signs and signals	47	157
	TOTALS	6730	29267

Motoring offences overview 1st September 2023 to 31st August 2024
https://www.psni.police.uk/sites/default/files/2024-10/Motoring%20offences%20monthly%20update%20to%20end%20August%202024.pdf

Number of arrests for drink/drug driving offences by gender over Christmas
SEX	1st Dec 2022 – 1st Jan 2023	1st Dec 2023 – 1st Jan 2024
MALE	268	246
FEMALE	42	52
TOTAL	310	298

Number of arrests for drink/drug driving offences over Christmas per region
Region	1st Dec 2022 – 1st Jan 2023	1st Dec 2023 – 1st Jan 2024
Belfast City Council	54	65
Derry City and Strabane	29	37
Mid Ulster	42	36
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon	30	34
Newry, Mourne and Down	29	29
Antrim and Newtownabbey	23	22
Ards and North Down	15	21
Lisburn and Castlereagh	16	17
Mid and East Antrim	19	17
Causeway Coast and Glens	22	11
Fermanagh and Omagh	31	9
Total	310	298

https://www.psni.police.uk/sites/default/files/2024-01/Christmas%20drink_drug%20driving%20campaign%20bulletin%202023_24.pdf

Number of drink or drug driving offences by month, 1st August 2023 – 31^st Aug 2024

Month	Motoring Offences
Aug-23	238
SEPT	285
OCT	254
NOV	261
DEC	299
Jan-24	217
FEB	249
MARCH	268
APRIL	239
MAY	276
JUNE	208
JULY	232
AUG	156

https://www.psni.police.uk/sites/default/files/2024-10/Motoring%20offences%20monthly%20update%20to%20end%20August%202024.pdf

References:

https://www.psni.police.uk/sites/default/files/2024-10/Motoring%20offences%20monthly%20update%20to%20end%20August%202024.pdf
**https://www.psni.police.uk/sites/default/files/2024-01/Christmas%20drink_drug%20driving%20campaign%20bulletin%202023_24.pdf
***https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/drink-driving#:~:text=The%20legal%20alcohol%20limit%20for,in%20100%20millilitres%20of%20blood
****https://www.think.gov.uk/campaign/morning-after/

FOI Request for motoring offences split per gender across NI district councils;

Region	Male	Female	Unknown Gender	Total
Belfast City Council	6676	1380	26	8082
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon	4255	996	5	5256
Newry, Mourne and Down	3027	658	2	3687
Derry City and Strabane	2752	634	2	3388
Antrim and Newtownabbey	2591	610	14	3215
Mid Ulster	2537	584	0	3121
Lisburn and Castlereagh	1840	518	3	2361
Fermanagh and Omagh	1864	419	2	2285
Causeway Coast and Glens	1669	407	3	2079
Mid and East Antrim	1687	341	9	2037
Ards and North Down	1412	429	18	1859

Overview of all motoring offences 1^st July 2023 – 30^th June 2024

​ SURVEY – Quotezone.co.uk’s findings are based on a randomised survey of 1000 respondents across Northern Ireland during October 2024, which represents a margin of error of approximately 5% at a 95% confidence level.

---