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Excess Alcohol

Episode 2 of 5

Documentary series. The traffic cops investigate when a driver loses control of his car on a rural road and dies at the scene of the accident.

Every year more than 250 people die on Britain's roads as a result of drink driving. In 2014, North Yorkshire Police arrested up to a thousand drivers for being above the legal alcohol limit, and with some of the highest rates of drink driving in the country, all too often North Yorkshire's traffic officers are faced with the tragic consequences of motorists driving under the influence.

The traffic cops are on a mission to hunt down habitual drink drivers. When a driver loses control of his car on a rural road and dies at the scene of the accident, they have to investigate the final hours of the man's life prior to the crash to try to determine the cause.

Habitual drink drivers are often reported to the police by concerned members of the public. When the police receive a tip-off, a Tadcaster traffic officer spots the suspect as he emerges from a pub. The man fails the roadside breath test, but it can't be used as evidence, and he has to be taken back to the police station to prove evidentially that he is over the limit. With delays to the process, the clock is ticking...

An overloaded flat-bed transit van passes a Scarborough traffic officer on the busy A64, and a check on the driver and his load unearths a number of motoring offences. The driver is a chatty chancer but, unbeknownst to him, or so he says, his licence has been revoked for years.

A disqualified driver's details are dispatched by the control room. He passes a police vehicle that attempts to pull him over, but to no avail - then, bizarrely, there is a lengthy car chase at 25mph.

A driver leaving a pub spots a patrol car, and a five-minute car chase takes place repeatedly around a housing estate. When Harrogate traffic officers eventually stop the car, the driver tries to run away.

1 hour

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Credits

Role Contributor
Narrator Steven Mackintosh
Executive Producer Iain Scollay
Production Company Mentorn Scotland

Broadcast

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One: Motorway Cops

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One: Motorway Cops

Documentary series following the work of the traffic police.