31st Aug 2017 1:06 PM
Daily Mercury
MACKAY motorists seem to be getting the message about drink driving with recent figures showing a dramatic drop in interceptions by police.
From July 2016 to July 2017 a total of 785 drink driving offences were recorded.
While that figure might seem high, it is a distinct decrease in the number of apprehensions from the previous two years.
From 2015 to 2016 Mackay police intervened in 954 drink driving offences, while in the year prior a whopping 1135 incidents took place.
This year from the 785 drivers caught, 70 were driving with a reading of 0.15 and higher, while 255 had a reading between 0.10 and under 0.15.
A further 395 were caught driving with a reading between 0.05 and 0.10, and 61 below 0.05, four failed to provide a specimen of breath of blood for testing.
Mackay Whitsunday taxi drivers believe the drop could be due to more residents choosing their services in recent years, particularly on their nights out.
“The greater amount of work for us is definitely during the night now, whether it be for meals, drinks or out,” driver Trevor Moore said.