The Crime Survey for England and Wales, self-reported driver behaviour, examines the main trends and patterns in self-reported drink driving, driving under the influence of drugs and mobile phone use whilst driving. This is based on questions asked as part of the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW).
Main findings:
- the proportion of all drivers who reported that they had driven when thought to be over the alcohol limit has fallen from 7.3% in the YE September 2010 to 5% in the YE March 2024
- the proportion of all drivers who reported that they had driven when thought to be affected or under the influence of drugs has fallen from 2.3% in the YE September 2010 to 0.4% of all drivers in the YE March 2024
- the proportion of drivers who reported that they had used their mobile phone in their hand whilst driving has stayed relatively constant in recent years, and was 4% in YE March 2024
- 51.7% of respondents reported that they had used their mobile phone at least once whilst driving in the YE March 2024, either by hand (4.1%) or via Bluetooth, Voice Command or dashboard holder (47.6%)
- more male drivers than female drivers reported that they had driven when they may have been over the alcohol limit, driven when under the influence of drugs and used their mobile whilst driving
- taking an average over the YE March 2023 and YE March 2024, the 20 to 24 age group had the highest rate of reporting having driven when thought to be over the alcohol limit and under the influence of drugs, and the 25 to 29 age group had the highest rate of reporting having driven whilst using a mobile phone
Whilst the report shows encouraging statistics that alcohol and drug driving is being taken more seriously by drivers, it is important to recognise that this is a self-reported survey and in reality, nationwide statistics show that drug driving is sadly on the rise. In December 2023, during the Christmas Drink Drug Drive national police operation, 6,846 drug tests were carried out with 48.5% of those testing positive! Overall, suggesting that drug driving isn’t actually falling, rather individuals are no longer admitting to getting behind the wheel whilst impaired.
Ensure your employees are driving safely while working – contact us to find out how you can implement random, pre-employment or with cause drug and alcohol testing in your workplace.