Officials have revealed the UK's oldest drinker driver was a 100-year-old man, and he was one of five over 90s stopped by officers while driving over the limit. New data obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by leading UK vehicle leasing firm Select Car Leasing has lifted the lid on the country’s problem with drink driving.
And it showed how four times as many men have had their records endorsed for alcohol-related motoring offences as women in the past five years. Graham Conway, Managing Director of Select Car Leasing, said: “Getting behind the wheel while impaired by drink or drugs is never acceptable, no matter what age you are.
“It’s no secret that our ability to drive is often affected as we grow older – our eyesight perhaps isn’t what it was and our reactions become slower. Drivers have a responsibility to be fully in control when taking to the road and failing to uphold that can have grave consequences.”
Select Car Leasing obtained figures from the DVLA outlining the scale of the problem of drink driving in Britain across the past five years. In that period, 152,956 men had their records endorsed with either driving or attempting to drive with an alcohol level above the legal limit or driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink, compared to 38,157 women.
The legal alcohol limit for driving in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. In Scotland the limit is 50mg / 100ml. A 100-year-old man took the dishonour of Britain’s oldest drink driver, with a 95-year-old woman the next oldest.
There were 492 aged between 80-89, 3,432 between 70-79 and 11,012 aged between 60-69. The youngest person in Britain to have their record endorsed for either of those offences was a 15-year-old boy, despite him not being old enough to hold a licence.
Figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) released earlier this year showed 220 people were killed by drink drivers in 2020. The stats represent an 11-year high, accounting for more than 15 per cent of fatalities on the roads – up from 13.1 per cent the previous year.
A total of 6,480 people were killed or injured in drink drive accidents in 2020, the most recent year for which figures are available. Select Car Leasing’s Mr Conway said: “Many experts have linked this to an increase in alcohol intake during the Covid pandemic, as people found themselves unable to mix with friends and families.
“Whatever the reason, we sincerely hope this worrying trend is dramatically reversed over the next few years.”
There is no maximum age for holding a driving licence in the UK, but it has to be renewed every three years after you hit the age of 70.
