The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
The president of the AA says the high percentage of drink-drivers in and around South Holland being foreign nationals might be due to them not being aware of British laws.
Current data shows that about one in three offenders is an immigrant.
Edmund King said: “We know that the drink-driving laws are very well understood by UK citizens because of having had years of campaigns at Christmas and the summer.
“East Anglia has a lot of manual workers, agricultural workers, from Eastern Europe and they are much less likely to be aware of them and so end up getting behind the wheel after too many drinks.
“The penalties are also much stricter in the UK, which deters people from drink-driving.
“The severity of punishment is not the same in some European countries. This is likely to be an element.”
He added: “The message to all drivers, wherever they are from, is that the rules apply to you and the risk of drink-driving is not worth taking, both in relation to your own safety and that of others.”
A Freedom of Information request by website motoring.co.uk revealed that Boston, Peterborough and Wisbech are in England and Wales’ top ten areas for drink-driving.
And John Siddle, of Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership (pictured), told Police Professional that the partnership is well aware of the extent of the problem, as around 32 per cent of all drink-drivers it caught were foreign nationals living in the Boston and South Holland area.
Boston – which placed second in the standings – saw 598 people of all nationalities banned for drink-driving between January 2011 and December 2015.
In 2015, there were 933 people arrested by Lincolnshire Police for drink-driving. In 2014 it was 945 and in 2013 there were 989 arrests.
