New figures show there was a slight decrease in the number of roadside breath tests delivered by police officers during 2024.
The Home Office figures show police across 26 forces carried out 167,095 roadside breath tests in England and Wales during 2024, compared with 167,384 tests in 2023 – a slight decrease of 0.2%.
Road safety campaigners say the figures raise fresh concerns about drink-drive enforcement at a time when alcohol-related crashes continue to kill hundreds of people every year.
DfT data shows that drink-drive collisions claimed 260 lives in 2023, while 6,310 people were injured or killed by motorists over the legal alcohol limit.
The Home Office figures also reveal that nearly 25,000 motorists either failed a breath test or refused to provide a sample in 2024 – around 15% of all drivers tested.
Hunter Abbott, Managing Director of breathalyser firm AlcoSense, said the level of testing is worrying given the scale of drink-drive harm on Britain’s roads.
He said: “A reduction in breath tests, however slight, sends exactly the wrong message to motorists.
“Drink driving continues to kill far too many people every year, yet police are carrying out considerably fewer tests than they did in the past.”
Fifteen years ago police conducted nearly 650,000 breath tests annually. However the figures released today are not directly comparable, as they exclude 17 of the 43 forces in England and Wales due to changes in data recording.
Abbott said the drop in traffic police numbers is a key factor, with dedicated officers falling from 5,005 in 2015 to just 3,889 in 2025 – a 22% reduction.
Testing levels in England and Wales also lag far behind many European countries, with just five breath tests per 1,000 inhabitants compared with 18 per 1,000 in Ireland and 109 in France.
Abbott said the figures need to be viewed in the context of the Government’s consultation on potential changes to drink-drive laws.
He added: “England and Wales currently has the highest drink-drive limit in Europe, but lowering it will achieve little unless enforcement is strengthened.
“Police need wider powers such as random breath testing – already used in countries including Ireland, France and Germany – along with the ability to confiscate vehicles or licences immediately when drivers are caught over the limit.
“Breath testing after an accident should also be mandatory – just 37% of drivers involved in collisions are currently breathalysed.”
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