The worst days, times, and areas for drink-drivers on UK roads
Key Points
- Drink-drive collisions in Great Britain peak between 11pm and midnight, which accounts for 9% of the total.
- June, August and December carry the highest share of drink-drive casualties; February and March the lowest.
- An estimated 220 people died in drink-drive collisions in 2024, down 16% on 2023, with about 6,350 casualties of all severities.
- Drivers under 20 record 85 drink-drive collisions per billion miles driven, against an all-ages average of 15.
- The RAC wants the Government to mandate alcohol interlocks for repeat offenders.
Drink-drive collisions in Great Britain cluster between 23h00 and midnight, the hour that accounts for 9% of the total, according to Department for Transport figures published on Thursday (30 July).
Between 11h00 and midday, the safest time on the road, drink-drivers account for just 1% of collisions. The DfT’s figures cover every reported injury collision on a public road involving at least one driver or rider over the legal alcohol limit.
June carried the highest share of drink-drive casualties in 2024 at 10.2%, followed by August at 9.7% and December at 9.4%. December stands out most sharply against the wider picture, taking 9.4% of drink-drive casualties but only 8% of casualties in all reported collisions. February and March recorded the lowest shares, at 7.2% and 7.9%.
Deaths fall, but alcohol’s share of road deaths rises
An estimated 220 people died in drink-drive collisions in 2024, a fall of 16% on 2023. The estimate carries a 95% confidence interval running from 190 to 250 deaths, and the DfT stresses that the year-on-year drop is not statistically significant.
Around 1,740 people were killed or seriously injured, down 6%, while total casualties of all severities reached about 6,350, broadly flat on the 6,310 recorded in 2023. Police logged 4,360 drink-drive collisions, a 1% decline on the year and 22% lower than a decade ago.
Alcohol accounted for 14% of all road deaths in Great Britain in 2024, 6% of all killed or seriously injured casualties and 5% of casualties overall.
Those figures have crept up over ten years even as absolute numbers have fallen: the proportion of killed or seriously injured casualties involving a drink-driver stood at 5.1% in 2014 and 5.9% in 2024. In 1979, 26% of road deaths involved a driver over the limit.
Where the risk is highest
Wales recorded the highest proportion of casualties occurring in drink-drive collisions at 8.6%, against 4.8% in both England and Scotland.
Among the English regions, the East Midlands topped the table at 6.3%, ahead of the South East at 5.7% and the South West at 5.6%. London recorded the lowest at 3%, which the DfT links to the nature of roads and collisions in the capital.
Scotland has operated a lower limit since 5 December 2014, at 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood or 22 micrograms per 100ml of breath. England and Wales retain the limit set by the Road Safety Act 1967, at 80mg per 100ml of blood or 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath.
Men made up 80% of drink-drivers whose sex police recorded, compared with 69% of all drivers involved in reported collisions. Every age band up to 49 is over-represented among drink-drivers, while drivers aged 50 and over are under-represented.
Adjusting for how far each group drives changes the picture considerably. Drivers under 20 recorded 85 drink-drive collisions per billion miles driven, more than five times the all-ages rate of 15.
Courts in England and Wales convicted 25,973 people of drink-driving offences under Section 5 of the Road Traffic Act in 2025, down from 27,221 in 2024 and 34,215 in 2019.
| Age of driver | Drink-drive collisions per billion miles driven |
|---|---|
| Under 20 | 85 |
| 20 to 24 | 55 |
| 25 to 29 | 26 |
| 30 to 34 | 22 |
| 35 to 39 | 20 |
| 40 to 49 | 14 |
| 50 to 59 | 7 |
| 60 or over | 4 |
RAC calls for alcohol interlocks
“The estimated number of people killed or seriously injured by drink-drivers may have dropped slightly year-on-year, but it’s a different picture over the last 10 years; little has changed and we must redouble our efforts to tackle this crime that wrecks so many lives,” said Simon Williams, Head of Policy at the RAC.
He noted that on average, four people die or are inflicted with serious injuries on the UK’s roads as a result of drink-drivers every single day, which should be a clear wake-up call to policymakers.
“It’s also the case that while estimated fatalities may have dropped a little, drink is responsible for an increasing percentage of these collisions,” Williams said.
“We also know a proportion of these will be repeat offenders for whom the current bans have little to no effect. So, it’s clear there needs to be a new approach to tackling habitual, high-risk drink-drivers, and urgently.”
Williams said that drinking and driving is a deliberate act and the RAC is calling on the government to use its current focus on road safety to mandate the use of alcohol interlocks – which prevent drink-drivers from even being able to start their vehicles – to cut reoffending.
“We have demonstrated this technology to the road safety minister and to MPs, and international evidence shows it works in cutting casualties.”
