Earn £1000 by reporting drink drivers

W ould you stop a drink driver getting behind the wheel of a car?
________________________________________________________

Police are offering up to £1,000 to people who report drink-drivers over the Christmas and New Year period. 

Various Police forces are promoting the rewards to help catch drivers who are over the alcohol limit or under the influence of drugs.

Running until New Year's Day, the scheme will see posters placed in pubs and clubs urging drinkers to report those flouting the law to the Crimestoppers hotline.

Tip-offs can be made anonymously on the Crimestoppers freephone line, and the money will be paid out if the driver is convicted.

Informants dialling the phone line are given a code number which they can quote on ringing later to check whether the suspect has been charged.

A Crimestoppers spokesman said that the average payout would be between £80 and £120.  But if the case was serious enough, a maximum of £1000 could be handed over.

But is the financial incentive more of a reward than potentially saving peoples lives?
_____________________________________________________________________

The Campaign Against Drink Driving said: 'It is a very good idea.  If there is a reward, people will not think twice about calling in to alert the police.'

But surely most responsible people would call in without assuming or accepting a reward, wouldn't they?

Drink-driving is taking a risk, not only with your own life, but those of your passengers and other innocent people on the road.

It can result in a criminal record, the loss your driving licence, or a fine of as much as £5,000.  If you kill or injure someone you could face as long as 14 years in prison.

If you suspect someone, friends, neighbours and even family members to be drink-driving, dial 999 or 101, or contact Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555111.

Drink driving and the law

Yesterday, a survey by Mori for Direct Line insurance revealed some ten million drivers have knowingly driven while drunk, while around two million have no idea how to work out how much alcohol they can drink and still drive legally.

Last year, 3,263 people were breathalysed in Essex in December and 126 were found to be over the limit.  This year, the first ten days of December saw 1,271 people stopped and tested and 35 found to be over the limit.

It's puzzled me why the Police do not have more of a presence outside pubs and nightclubs similar to the local ANPR operations currently run by Essex Police.  Commonly these premises have car parks that are filled with cars driven by when people with intentions to have an alcoholic drink. 

Eighty-five per cent of drivers favour police having powers to carry out random breath tests on motorists they suspect have been drinking.