Breath test 50th anniversary

It is now 50 years since the breathalyser testing system to check for alcohol use was introduced in the UK. Police carried out the first roadside breath test on a motorist in Shropshire on the 8th October 1967. The breath testing for alcohol has had a major benefit for UK road safety as in 1967 there were 1,640 road fatalities attributed to alcohol, almost as many road deaths as there were in total in the UK last year. The push to make drink driving regarded as dangerous, anti-social behaviour has had a maj
October 6, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
It is now 50 years since the breathalyser testing system to check for alcohol use was introduced in the UK. Police carried out the first roadside breath test on a motorist in Shropshire on the 8th October 1967. The breath testing for alcohol has had a major benefit for UK road safety as in 1967 there were 1,640 road fatalities attributed to alcohol, almost as many road deaths as there were in total in the UK last year. The push to make drink driving regarded as dangerous, anti-social behaviour has had a major effect and road deaths from drink driving are now around 12.5% of what they were in 1967. It is worth noting that road deaths overall have fallen dramatically, despite a massive increase in car ownership.


Previous methods for testing for alcohol use before the breathalyser involved officers using such scientific methods as asking drivers to stand on one leg, walking in a straight line or touching their noses with their eyes closed.

However road deaths from drink driving do still occur and accounted for around 200 fatalities last year, according to the 5432 Department for Transport (DfT).  

Final figures for 2015 show a 9% increase in the number of seriously injured casualties - from 1,070 in 2014 to 1,170 - the first rise since 2011. Worryingly, the total number of casualties in drink drive accidents for 2015 was 8,470 – up 3% on the previous year.

Police carried out over half a million (520,219) roadside breath tests in 2015, the lowest number since data collection began in 2002.  More than 60,000 drivers (one in eight of those tested) failed or refused to take the test.

Men were twice as likely as women to fail a breath test, a trend that was consistent across all age groups according to the DfT.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Zipping up road lanes
    September 28, 2018
    QMB has a Lindsay Road Zipper on duty near Montreal. World Highways deputy editor David Arminas climbed aboard As vice president of Canadian barrier specialist QMB, based in Laval, Quebec, Marc-Andre Seguin is sanguine about the future for moveable barriers. On the one hand, it looks good. The oft-stated advantage of moveable barriers is that the systems are cheaper to install than adding a lane or two to a highway or bridge. Directional changes to lanes can boost volume on a road without disrupting tra
    Read More
  • Drink and substance abuse for Nigeria’s commercial drivers
    October 4, 2012
    Worrying data has been revealed by a study of bus drivers in Nigeria’s mega-city and commercial centre, Lagos. The research revealed that 39% or 781 of the 2,002 bus drivers tested drive while under the influence of alcohol. Also revealed was the fact that 940 of the drivers have visual impairments, with 13% having been given special glasses. And 22% of the drivers, 441, tested positive for either marijuana or cocaine use (and in some instances both). In addition, 30% of the drivers (601) were revealed to b
    Read More
  • Easing temporary highway danger
    February 22, 2013
    Some of the latest speedometer technology has been successfully trialled in French highway work zones, while tireless work continues across Europe and the United States to reduce the number of work zone deaths and serious injuries involving road workers and motorists. Guy Woodford reports The number of roadworkers being killed and seriously injured on England’s motorways and major trunk roads more than doubled between 2007 and 2010 – from no deaths and 14 serious injuries. This rise has led to to major camp
    Read More
  • The Lessons of the Genoa bridge collapse
    April 23, 2019
    The partial collapse of the Polcevera viaduct, better known as the Morandi Bridge, has prompted debate regarding the technical and administrative aspects of maintaining road infrastructures. We discussed it with the engineer Gabriele Camomilla, former Director of Research and Maintenance of the Società Autostrade, who coordinated the only major structural intervention performed on the bridge, carried out in the early 1990s
    Read More

Highlighted Content