Last December, North Yorkshire Police launched a Christmas drink and drug driving campaign built around a powerful short film, “Christmas for me is about.” The two-minute video follows three people as they share what they love about Christmas and then shows how one person’s decision to drive under the influence can leave a permanent empty chair at the table. The film underlines a simple point, those who lose someone in a drink or drug driving collision feel that loss every day of the year, but Christmas makes the absence even harder to bear.

The campaign was run together with the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, bringing together local authorities, emergency services and other agencies that work to reduce road deaths and injuries across the county. Throughout December, officers increased proactive drink and drug driving patrols, using both marked and unmarked vehicles and a range of tactics to stop drivers before they could cause harm. The message was clear, risk does not end when the party does, people can still be over the limit or under the influence the morning after, and patrols and roadside checks were carried out around the clock on key routes. The public were also encouraged to play a role, reporting suspected drink or drug drivers to the police so that action could be taken quickly.

Behind the campaign sits some worrying data. During the previous year’s Christmas enforcement period, officers in North Yorkshire carried out 731 roadside tests, with 18.6% of drivers testing positive for being over the drink or drug drive limit, a 6.9% increase on the same period in 2022. As Superintendent Andrew Berriman stressed, every year officers have to deliver devastating news to families whose loved ones have been killed in collisions involving drink or drugs, and taking offenders off the road is about preventing that lifetime of damage. Even a year later, the campaign’s core message still holds, choosing not to drink or take drugs before driving is a simple act that protects lives and keeps every seat at the Christmas table filled.

Find more from North Yorkshire Police (UK; December 2024)