§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of media campaigns in reducing the incidence of drink driving. [101918]
§ Mr. HillDrink drive media campaigns aim to stimulate media and public awareness of the message not to drink and drive. They also provide a focus for 339W co-ordinated complementary activity by police forces, local authorities and many others in the public and private sectors. Effectiveness is measured on an ongoing basis by:
market research which tracks, each month, advertising recall and changes in attitudes across a range of road safety issues
behaviour change indicators such as proportions failing breath tests and, over the longer term
casualty statistics.
The following tables show the reduction in casualties and in the percentage of positive breath tests over recent years.
Fatalities and serious injuries in drink drive accidents 1979–98 Year Fatalities Serious injuries 1979 1,640 8,300 1980 1,450 7,970 1981 1,420 7,370 1982 1,550 8,010 1983 1,110 6,800 1984 1,170 6,820 1985 1,040 6,810 1986 990 6,440 1987 900 5,900 1988 790 5,100 1989 810 4,790 1990 760 4,090 1991 660 3,610 1992 660 3,280 1993 540 2,660 1994 540 2,840 1995 540 3,000 1996 580 3,010 1997 550 2,940 19981 460 2,520 1 Provisional
Percentage of breath tests which were positive/refused 1988–98 Year Percentage positive/refused 1988 25 1989 20 1990 17 1991 16 1992 17 1993 15 1994 14 1995 13 1996 13 1997 13 1998 12