Immigrants linked to road accident rise

• Different attitudes to drink-driving
• Immigrants can't understand road signs
• Police chief calls for greater education

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An influx of immigrant drivers could be increasing the number of road accidents, a police chief has warned.

Chief Inspector Rick Dowell, of Dorset Police’s traffic unit, has suggested that the rise is down to problems with understanding road signs and different attitudes to drink-driving and speeding.

He said: ‘We are seeing an increase in the number of foreign nationals arrested for drink-driving and speeding.

‘In eastern European countries, especially the Baltic states, the drink-driving legislation isn’t enforced as rigorously as in this country, and perhaps they don’t understand the danger of it. A lot of it is down to education.'

Poland has an almost zero-tolerance stance on drink driving, with the legal limit being set at 0.2grams/litre compared with 0.8grams/litre in the UK. However, there is limited enforcement of the rule.

Senior officers also suggest that difficulty arises from understanding road signs.

To combat the problems Dorset Police are setting up driver awareness courses for immigrants.