A total of 82 people have been charged and named by Avon and Somerset Police during their annual Christmas drink drive campaign – a sharp fall on last year.
It comes after the force named and shamed the offenders online. There were no residents in Burnham-On-Sea charged.
Road Safety Superintendent Richard Corrigan said: “In last year’s 2013 Operation Tonic campaign 144 motorists were charged, compared with 82 this year.”
“That is a significant reduction, particularly as we carried out more roadside stop-checks and tested twice as many more drivers.”
“The figures seem to indicate that drivers heeded all the messages we issued about the seriousness, the dangers and the consequences of drink and drug driving.”
“For the first time in our Christmas 2014 campaign we decided to name those charged, and I believe that had an extra impact and helped deter people from taking a chance on driving while under the influence.”
