Harrogate Inspector 'disappointed' as drink-drive campaign reaches 79 arrests

As of today (December 19) the number of people arrested in the county, for driving under the influence of drink or drugs, stands at 79.

A total of 31 arrests have been made for drug driving and 48 for drink driving.

Many of those caught for drink-driving have been found to be around three times the legal limit, and 24 of all those arrested have been caught as a result of a road traffic collision.

Temporary Inspector for Harrogate Police, Paul Cording said the results of the campaign so far were “disappointing”.

Insp. Cording said: “These aren’t people that are having a drink and thinking they are okay to drive, they are having a lot to drink and then making the conscious decision to get behind the wheel of a car.

It’s really worrying and these are only the ones that have been caught.

“We can only do what we can because we only have a finite number of resources so we are so grateful to those members of the public who call us, the information will be acted on.

"People say why do you only do this at this time of year, well we do - as far as I'm concerned this is a year-long campaign. But people would get bored of us banging on and wouldn't take any notice.

"We do two targeted campaigns throughout the year because at this time of year people have parties and go out for a drink. We want people to enjoy themselves and have a good time but we want them to think about their journey home too.

"One of the most worrying things is the people who think 'it won't happen to me'. You might get away with it once or twice but that one time could be the time that you seriously injure yourself, someone else or it could even be fatal."