§ Mr. Muddasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many motor car drivers charged with drinking and driving offences in each of the last five years have been found to have a blood alcohol content of more than 120 mg. per 100 ml. blood; and what proportion of the total number of drivers charged with such offences this represented in each year.
§ Mr. MellorThe readily available information relates to findings of guilt for offences of driving or being in charge of a motor vehicle while having a breath, blood or urine alcohol concentration in excess of the prescribed482W limits (80 mg. per 100 ml. of blood, 35 microgrammes per 100 ml. of breath or 107 mg. per 100 ml. of urine). A breakdown of the alcohol concentration recorded in these findings of guilt is published annually in "Offences Relating to Motor Vehicles, England and Wales, Supplementary Tables" (table 16 of the issue for 1984), copies of which are in the Library. In 1984, out of a total of 79,369 findings of guilt for these offences, 78 per cent. (62,290) of those found guilty were recorded as having alcohol in excess of 120 mg. per 100 ml. of blood (or equivalent for a breath or urine test). There were, in addition, 22,100 findings of guilt for the offences of failing to provide a specimen for initial breath test or for evidential test, or being unfit through drink or drugs, while driving or being in charge of a motor vehicle.