More than 500 car crashes in Surrey and Sussex have led to death and serious injury over the past three years.
Throughout the festive period, Surrey and Sussex Police Officers will be cracking down on drink drivers with added resources to keep the roads safe.
Driving under the influence of drink or drugs could result in a prison sentence or unlimited fine, for those caught and convicted.
Chief Inspector Michael Hodder, of the Surrey and Sussex Roads Policing Unit, said: “The consequences of drink and drug-driving are far reaching. Even a small amount of alcohol or substances can massively impair your ability to drive safely, and you increase the risk of seriously injuring or even killing yourself or someone else.
“Imagine being responsible for something like that. Not only have you destroyed the life of that person and their loved ones, you’ve also destroyed your own life.
“This is not just a warning; this is the reality. In the past three years (October 2017 – September 2020), there have been 296 collisions in Sussex and 214 collisions in Surrey which have resulted in death or serious injury, and where drink or drugs has been the main contributory factor.
“Working with our divisional colleagues and partners including Sussex Safer Roads Partnership and DriveSmart in Surrey, we are committed to improving the safety of all road users and reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured (KSIs) on our roads.
“Our approach to reducing KSIs will target those at greatest risk on our roads, including motorcyclists, young drivers and vulnerable road users, and we will make the road network a hostile place for those intent on criminality by denying them use of the roads.
“We will achieve this through a combination of measures including education, engineering and enforcement, and we will continue to improve the safety of the road network with special emphasis on reducing casualty rates of vulnerable users.”
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