Echo teams up with Dorset police to crackdown on drinking and driving

We have teamed up with Dorset Police to name and shame those charged with either offence during December.

The campaign has been backed by the families of drink-driving victims.

The initiative runs from Sunday, Dec-ember 1, until New Year’s Day, and this year, anyone charged with a drink or drug-driving-related off-ence during the campaign will have their name and court appearance details released.

Dorset Police are also warning motorists that throughout the campaign – which forms part of Dorset Police’s Countdown to Christmas – there will be an increase in traffic patrols and roadside checks.

Every driver who is involved in a collision during December will be breath tested whether they are suspected of drink-driving or not.

Inspector Matt Butler, from Dorset Police’s traffic unit, said: “Each year we warn people of the dangers of drink-driving, but some still choose to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol, putting themselves and the lives of others at risk.

“I have seen far too many lives lost on the roads due to drink-driving.

“Research has shown that even one drink can impair the ability to drive, so please don’t get behind the wheel after drinking any alcohol at all.”

Insp Butler is urging people to plan ahead and take steps such as booking a taxi, having a designated driver or arranging overnight accommodation. Anyone caught drink-driving will face a minimum 12-month driving ban, a criminal record, up to six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000.

Police will also use information submitted by the public to target suspected offenders.

Insp Butler added: “If a member of the public suspects someone is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they should dial 999 immediately and report the details to the police so that we can intercept that vehicle.”

Woman who died in car crash was twice the legal limit

A WOMAN who died when her car came off the road in Purbeck was twice the drink-drive limit, an inquest heard.

The Coroner’s Court at Bournemouth was told on Tuesday that Kelly Wood, 29, had a blood-alcohol level of 167mg when her red Seat Leon smashed into a tree near Monkey World at Wool on Sunday, August 4.

The legal limit is 80mg.

Miss Wood’s fiancé, Jolyon Vizcaya, told the hearing that they had been at the Chilli Festival at Wimborne St Giles during the day and had gone to a pub in West Moors afterwards. He had seen her drink one glass of wine. They went to Miss Wood’s mother’s home to collect her car, before heading home to Wool separately.

Mr Vizcaya went via Wareham to pick up a takeaway and was surprised to find that Miss Wood, who was a paint sprayer at a Verwood car firm and a car lover, was not home when he arrived.
Worried, he traced her route back and came across the emergency services.

Fighting back tears, he told the inquest: “The traffic officer got called down and asked me some questions about what she was driving and what she was wearing and it was then that he said that they believed that it was her.”

He said she knew the roads well, always drove according to the conditions and that it was ‘not her way’ to drink and drive.

Catherine Cross told the inquest that she saw the red car ‘flying past’.

She estimated that it was travelling at 80mph or more and she saw it slide out of control in her mirror.

Collision investigator PC Clifton Beard said the car had ‘massive impact damage’ to its offside front, suggesting it was travelling sideways on impact.

The speed could not be precisely calculated.

PC Beard said CCTV at Monkey World showed the car’s brake lights on. He said it suggested a late reaction from the driver could been a factor in the car going out of control.
Coroner Sheriff Payne recorded a verdict of death due to a road accident.

Pain is till the same for family of crash death teenager

“IT stays with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Those are the words of the dad of a teenager killed when a drink-driver smashed into the car he was driving.

Ben Andrews, 19, was killed in a head-on smash on the A354 near Blandford in May 2012.
His dad Paul, who has since started a charity in his name, had a simple message as this year’s Christmas drink and drug-driving campaign gets underway.

He said: “Don’t drink and drive.

“It’s not just the horrific effects it has on the family of the victims; it’s the horrific effects on the families of the drink-drivers as well.

“I don’t think our lives will ever be the same again. My other son and daughter are still very badly affected by it, they burst out crying from time to time, so does my wife.

“It doesn’t go away, it’s 24/7.

“If people knew the pain that drink-driving can cause they wouldn’t do it.
“It doesn’t take much at all for a tragedy to occur.”

Mr Andrews, who has recently lost his job through an illness caused by the effects of the tragedy, was on the scene of Ben’s accident, just a couple of miles from the family’s home, before the emergency services.

He added: “People think you get over it, but you don’t.
“Not a day goes by when what I saw that night doesn’t flash through my mind.”
On Dorset Police’s plans to name and shame those charged with a drink or drug-driving offence during December, Mr Andrews added: “I think it’s a good idea. I think it’s something that should have been done a long time ago.”

He also called for tougher penalties for those convicted.

The family were left outraged when Ben’s killer, 20-year-old Benjamin James Southall, received a 32-month sentence for causing death by careless driving while under the influence of alcohol.

•  A PORTLAND crash victim has welcomed news that drivers who get behind the wheel drunk could face being named and shamed this Christmas.

Peter Bower, pictured above, who lost his leg after being hit by a drunk-driver, said he ‘totally agrees’ with the policy to name and shame drivers.

He said: “What happened to me nearly killed me and it certainly changed my life.
“There are so many implications, and for the cost of getting a taxi, it’s just not worth it.”

He praised the police for their work on cracking down on drink and drug-drivers in the county.
But Mr Bower said he would also like to see a zero-tolerance policy so that drivers could not drink at all before getting behind the wheel.

He added: “I think this would make the situation far clearer.

“People also need to be aware that they could still be drunk the morning after. I think it’s got better in the past few years but there’s always room for improvement.”