FOI 447/26

Request

 

I would like to obtain the following information regarding roadside drink driving and drug driving enforcement.

 

1. Roadside breath tests (alcohol) - monthly data

For each month from January 2015 to December 2025, please provide:

* The number of roadside breath tests conducted

* Of those, the number that resulted in:

* A positive result

* A refusal/failure to provide a sample

 

2. Roadside drug wipe tests (saliva tests) - monthly data

For each month from January 2015 to December 2025, please provide:

* The number of roadside drug wipe tests conducted

* Of those, the number that resulted in:

* A positive result

* A refusal/failure to provide a sample

 

3. Arrests - monthly data

For each month from January 2015 to December 2025, please provide:

* The number of arrests following:

* A positive roadside breath test

* A positive roadside drug wipe test

*

4. Notes on data

If any of the above information is not held, not recorded monthly, or only available for part of the period, please provide whatever equivalent data is available and outline any limitations.

 

5. Public interest justification

This request relates to public interest reporting by the BBC on long term national trends in drink and drug driving enforcement. These statistics are typically recorded in monthly or quarterly formats for internal monitoring and Home Office returns. If any part of the request risks exceeding the cost limit, I would be grateful for the data that can be retrieved within the limit and for advice on how the request could be refined.

I would prefer the information in an electronic spreadsheet format (e.g., CSV or XLS), if possible.

 

Response

 

We have consulted with our Performance analysts, as well as our Roads Policing Unit (RPU) who have provided the following information in relation to your request.

Question 1

 

Following a search from our analysts on all breath alcohol tests under the Road Traffic Act 1988 across the requested timeframe, the following results have been collated:

 

Breath Tests for Alcohol Under The Road Traffic Act 1988
Year	Month	Total Number of screening tests required	Of which, total number of positive or refused
2015	Jan	1238	134
	Feb	763	125
	Mar	623	117
	Apr	701	102
	May	769	146
	Jun	2740	168
	Jul	835	111
	Aug	887	182
	Sep	738	157
	Oct	713	134
	Nov	818	170
	Dec	4276	222
2016	Jan	549	86
	Feb	721	121
	Mar	897	184
	Apr	709	144
	May	730	136
	Jun	2086	153
	Jul	1265	139
	Aug	791	167
	Sep	785	114
	Oct	774	132
	Nov	772	136
	Dec	4074	179

 

2017	Jan	1037	143
	Feb	669	115
	Mar	802	137
	Apr	672	124
	May	654	133
	Jun	2178	146
	Jul	761	154
	Aug	622	126
	Sep	775	114
	Oct	696	145
	Nov	635	111
	Dec	3142	165
2018	Jan	701	110
	Feb	755	136
	Mar	593	121
	Apr	642	127
	May	860	212
	Jun	2445	170
	Jul	1949	154
	Aug	681	131
	Sep	687	145
	Oct	802	144
	Nov	743	170
	Dec	3256	191
2019	Jan	613	114
	Feb	541	120
	Mar	662	117
	Apr	542	109
	May	523	89
	Jun	777	108
	Jul	968	116
	Aug	612	159
	Sep	446	100
	Oct	531	118
	Nov	533	113
	Dec	1567	156

2020	Jan	543	73
	Feb	478	92
	Mar	397	88
	Apr	310	90
	May	549	118
	Jun	475	88
	Jul	1564	187
	Aug	1525	176
	Sep	677	121
	Oct	599	113
	Nov	464	87
	Dec	1710	90
2021	Jan	356	53
	Feb	261	39
	Mar	318	51
	Apr	333	63
	May	415	94
	Jun	332	65
	Jul	457	83
	Aug	414	89
	Sep	407	79
	Oct	463	94
	Nov	399	74
	Dec	1165	97
2022	Jan	593	93
	Feb	459	92
	Mar	434	98
	Apr	539	108
	May	558	110
	Jun	743	127
	Jul	680	145
	Aug	1081	124
	Sep	731	108
	Oct	675	143
	Nov	1601	145
	Dec	2872	199

2023	Jan	1454	205
	Feb	832	154
	Mar	1566	262
	Apr	1188	233
	May	1380	308
	Jun	1321	218
	Jul	1181	195
	Aug	2002	223
	Sep	1307	226
	Oct	1108	186
	Nov	987	168
	Dec	6579	375
2024	Jan	700	111
	Feb	605	102
	Mar	625	107
	Apr	655	108
	May	624	88
	Jun	809	154
	Jul	504	84
	Aug	491	96
	Sep	439	81
	Oct	537	85
	Nov	789	148
	Dec	4422	231
2025	Jan	1112	142
	Feb	902	156
	Mar	1091	180
	Apr	1330	198
	May	1221	215
	Jun	732	132
	Jul	893	101
	Aug	721	110
	Sep	549	97
	Oct	548	103
	Nov	632	104
	Dec	5198	171

Question 2

 

South Wales Police do not hold the information for drug wipe (saliva) tests on record. The RPU have confirmed that a new system was implemented in November 2025 for recording drug wipes due to issues with the previous system, and thus any data prior to this is irretrievable.

 

Question 3

 

Unfortunately, due to the change in systems as per Q2 and the method of data storage in Q1, we are unable to retrieve custody data following a positive roadside breath test / drug wipe. The number of breath tests are stored as figures, without any associated data such as occurrence numbers. Therefore, it is not possible for us to cross reference arrests with positive alcohol breath tests in this manner.

 

Whilst we have access to arrest reasons as part of the custody information, these are simply high-level arrest categories relating to Home Office codes. Some of these categories may hold some relevance, such as: Driving whilst unfit through alcohol, however this provides no indication as to whether the suspect was arrested as a result of a roadside breath test and is thus unsuitable for this request.