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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Neil Shaw & Katie Weston

UK's oldest drink driver revealed as 100-year-old man who was pulled over by police

The UK's oldest drink driver is a 100-year-old man, according to new data.

Figures from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) reveal the pensioner was one of five over 90s stopped by officers while driving over the limit in the past five years.

The research also shows four times as many men than women were handed points on their licence for alcohol-related motoring offences, reports Manchester Evening News.

Graham Conway, the managing director of Select Car Leasing - which obtained the data - said: "Getting behind the wheel while impaired by drink or drugs is never acceptable, no matter what age you are.

The research also shows four times as many men than women were handed points on their licence for alcohol-related motoring offences (file photo) (Getty Images)

"It’s no secret that our ability to drive is often affected as we grow older – our eyesight perhaps isn’t what it was and our reactions become slower.

"Drivers have a responsibility to be fully in control when taking to the road and failing to uphold that can have grave consequences."

A 95-year-old woman was identified as Britain's second oldest person to have their record endorsed for drink driving, while a 15-year-old boy is the youngest.

Over the five-year period, 152,956 men had their records endorsed with either; driving or attempting to drive with an alcohol level above the legal limit, driving or attempting to drive while unfit through drink. This compares to 38,157 women.

In 2020, 6,480 people were killed or injured in drinking drive accidents (file photo) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In total, there were 492 drink drivers aged between 80-89, 3,432 between 70-79 and 11,012 aged between 60-69.

And in 2020 - the most recently available data - 6,480 people were killed or injured in drinking drive accidents.

Mr Conway added: "Many experts have linked this to an increase in alcohol intake during the Covid pandemic, as people found themselves unable to mix with friends and families.

"Whatever the reason, we sincerely hope this worrying trend is dramatically reversed over the next few years."

In total, there were 492 drink drivers aged between 80-89, 3,432 between 70-79 and 11,012 aged between 60-69 (Getty Images)

The figures come after a drink driver blew a record-breaking breathalyser reading which was described as "off the Richter scale" by a court official earlier this year.

Kerry Duncan was nearly nine times over the limit when she broke the record for the highest reading ever registered by a woman in the UK.

In 2010, a man admitted drink driving in Coventry after blowing a reading of 191 mics in what was believed to have been among the highest ever recorded in the UK.

And in 2008, a driver in Chorlton returned a reading of 188 mics. Manchester Magistrates court heard an average person would need to consume around 15 pints of beer to be so intoxicated.

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