RoSPA welcomes drink driving drop
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has welcomed a fall in the number of drink driving deaths occurring in the UK.
According to the road safety charity, figures released last week (August 5th) by the Department of Transport show there were 380 fatalities relating to drink driving in 2009, a fall of five per cent compared with 2008 figures.
It is the first time the statistic has fallen below 400, while serious injuries also dropped nine per cent to 1,480.
Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at RoSPA, welcomed the news but said "there is still much more work to be done".
"Christmas is a key time when it comes to road safety and it is as important as ever to impress upon people that drink driving should not be an option," Mr Clinton stated.
RoSPA also welcomed a recent government announcement that new drug testing equipment will be trialled on the UK's roads over the next two years.
The UK was the EU member state with the lowest road fatality rate by population at 38 per million inhabitants in 2009, the charity notes.