Murdo has expressed alarm at the “staggering” number of drink and drug driving offences in Fife, which has seen a total of 1,355 such crimes in three years.
Data obtained by the Scottish Conservatives through Freedom of Information reveal that of the 1,355 offences, which took place between 2019 and 2022, 1,189 of them were detected.
The largest number of drink and drug driving offences from April 1, 2019 to August 31, 2022, concerned motorists in Fife who drove a vehicle with blood alcohol content above the prescribed limit – this amounted to 630 during this period.
There was also a notable spike in the number of motorists in Fife who drove a vehicle while under the influence of controlled drugs above prescribed limit, rising from 24 in the 2019/20 financial year to 104 in 2021/22. In addition, the overall number of recorded drink and drug driving offences in the Kingdom rose from 388 in 2019/20 to 440 in 2021/22.
Commenting, Murdo Fraser MSP said: “I am very concerned at these figures. To have nearly 1,400 drink and drug driving offences in Fife in only three years is absolutely staggering. It is also very alarming to read that the number of motorists in Fife who chose to drive a vehicle over the legal limit after consuming alcohol totalled 630 during this period.
“And it is quite shocking to discover the number of motorists in the Kingdom who drove a vehicle while under the influence of controlled drugs rose from 24 to 104 in two years. Driving under the influence of drugs – both illegal and prescription – became an offence in the UK in 2015.”
Murdo continued: “These figures demonstrate that there is a percentage of the population who are willing to drive their vehicle either after having a drink of alcohol or having taken controlled drugs, which is appalling. And to make matters worse, there will be less police officers out there to catch such culprits due to cuts imposed by the SNP Government on Police Scotland.”
