§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total number of drivers involved in accidents in Northern Ireland with a positive breath test or failure to provide a specimen in each of the past seven years; if he will further break each figure down by the numbers of these which relate to each of the periods— 04.00 to 10.00 hours, 10.00 to 16.00 hours, 16.00 to 22.00 hours and 22.00 hours to 04.00 hours.
§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement outlining the Royal Ulster Constabulary's policy in regard to cautioning drunkenness offenders; and whether he has giver advice comparable to the advice to chief officers in Britain contained in Home Office Circular 14/1985.
§ Mr. ScottAt present no instructions on the cautioning of drunkenness offenders exist within the force but the Royal Ulster Constabulary has always exercised a discretion in prosecuting offenders for simple drunkenness or less serious cases of aggravated drunkenness.
As a general rule, the infrequent offender is detained until sober, released and proceeded against by way of summons or caution. No hard and fast rule exists in relation to the cautioning or prosecution of persistent offenders and the course of action taken in any particular case will depend on the circumstances.
The advice contained in Home Office circular 14/85 has not been communicated to the force as yet in relation to drunkenness but the cautioning of adults generally in accordance with the Home Office circular is presently under consideration.
§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement outlining arrangements which the Royal Ulster Constabulary has with health authorities, social services or non-statutory alcohol agencies to help with drunkenness offenders who come to the notice of the police frequently.
§ Mr. ScottNo special arrangements exist between the Royal Ulster Constabulary and health authorities, social services or non-statutory alcohol agencies to assist drunkenness offenders who come to the notice of the police frequently. Consultations on an ad hoc basis do, however, take place in appropriate cases.
§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement outlining the number of drunken driving offences in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years, further indicating the numbers of these which occurred in the Christmas and new year period.
§ Mr. ScottThe following table gives the number of prosecutions for drunken driving offences during the years 1981–1985.
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Number of Prosecutions Number 1981 1,924 1982 1,916 1983 1,917 1984 1,794 1985 2,014 Information on the number of prosecutions for drunken driving over the Christmas and new year period is not available. However, during the seven-week period for Christmas 1984 to new year 1985 there were 243 detections in respect of major drunk in charge offences and positive excess alcohol offences. The figure for the same period in 1985–86 was 202.
§ Mr. Humeasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what figures are available to indicate the proportion of traffic fatalities in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years in which excess alcohol consumption might have been a factor.
§ Mr. ScottThe following table gives the number of accidents involving death and injury, the number in which alcohol was a principal factor and shows the percentage of all death/injury accidents.
Total number of accidents involving death or injury Accidents involving death or injury due to alcohol Percentage of all death injury accidents 1981 5,245 358 6.8 1982 5,551 358 6.4 1983 5,425 363 6.7 1984 5,978 362 6.1 1985 5,725 292 5.1