Widow pleads with Scarborough drivers to not drink and drive

North Yorkshire Police’s 95 Alive Christmas drink and drug driving campaign is targeting drivers to think before they act during the festive period.

The force has arrested 29 people in the opening four days of the campaign, launched on December 1, in relation to drink and drug driving related offences. In the same period last year the force arrested only nine people which traffic sergeant Andrew Morton of North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Group, said has mixed emotions about.

He said: “It is great news that we are catching these people but it saddens me that so many people are choosing to go out and drive while under the influence. It is a selfish act and ultimately people need to realise the cost that can have. it comes down to the impact on the families of both parties involved and then to the emergency services.”

Lorraine Allaway, 59, was left heartbroken after her husband Bob died when hit head-on by a drunk driver in October 2015 while driving his motorcycle near Settle.

The driver, Andrew Crook, 48 from Leeds, was jailed for four years and eight months and banned from driving for five years and eight months.

A roadside breath test revealed Crook, of Swinnow in Leeds, had a reading of 83 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – nearly two-and-a-half times the legal limit, which is 35.

Lorraine told the Scarborough News: “I will never forgive the driver. Justice has not been done. The devastation it has caused me and the rest of our family and friends will be with us for the rest of our lives.

“If I can stop one person from getting behind the wheel after they have been drinking or taking drugs, and causing the devastation that my family have experienced, then I’ll be happy.”

Traffic sergeant Morton urged drivers to think responsibly outside Scarborough’s Brunswick Shopping Centre on Monday.

He said: “If you kill someone you risk getting a jail sentence, or leaving the scene in the back of a hearse.”