With the Government considering lowering the drink drive limit, new figures shared exclusively with Daily Mail and This is Money show that one reckless motorist has been prosecuted for being over the limit a staggering six times in the last five years.
This driver is one of more than 6,200 individuals who have been caught over the legal limit since 2020, official statistics show.
The concerning figures come as ministers consult on lowering the drink-drive threshold from 35mcg per 100ml of breath to 22mcg. Doing so would bring the law in line with Scotland and other European countries.
Under Labour’s Road Safety Strategy announced earlier this month, newly qualified motorists could face even lower drink drive limits for the first two years they’re on the road.
The government’s proposal too want a mandate for all new cars to be compatible with ‘alcolocks’ – technology that prevents a vehicle’s engine or electric motors from starting if alcohol is detected on the driver’s breath – that can be fitted to vehicles owned by those with previous convictions.
The possibility of the first major wholesale changes to the law since 1967 have received a mixed response, with some critics claiming the government has a vendetta against both drivers and the hospitality trade, with rural pub owners warning that a lower drink drive limit would be the final nail putting them out of business.
But new figures from the DVLA show the current rules simply aren’t getting through to some, with one motorist receiving half-a-dozen DR10 endorsements – ‘driving or attempting to drive with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit’ – since the start of 2020.
Meanwhile, three individuals racked up five drink-drive convictions and a further 32 have four on their record for the same period.
Britain’s most prevalent drink driver received convictions in 2020, twice in 2021, once in 2023 and twice again in 2024 as the shocking number of motorists who have flouted the law in the last five years has been exposed by a new study
According to the DVLA data, the total number of multiple offenders who willfully ignored the law to repeatedly put the lives of other road users at risk over the same timeframe was a staggering 6,234.
Penalties for a DR10 endorsement include a minimum 12-month driving suspension and three to 11 points on your licence.
Each offence stays on a driving record for 11 years.
The new figures highlight the troubling issue of people already banned from the roads still getting behind the wheel while over the limit.
Sam Bryan of Select Van Leasing, which obtained the data from the DVLA via Freedom of Information request, said: ‘It’s astonishing to see that people are breaking the drink drive laws once, never mind multiple times during a relatively short period.
‘To put lives at risk in such a way is reckless in the extreme and no-one can say they are unaware of either the law or the repercussions as they are so well advertised.’
And the worst drink-driving culprit’s record is a litany of repeated mindless behaviour, the investigation revealed.
This individual received DR10 endorsements in 2020, twice in 2021, once in 2023 and twice again in 2024.
The DVLA figures for complete years run up to the end of 2024, but the government agency also provided the numbers up to September 27 last year.
They show 278 motorists racked up multiple DR10 endorsements on their licence since the start of 2025 – 269 having two, eight having three offences and one person totalling four in just under nine months.
Ministers opened a public consultation earlier this month regarding lowering the drink-drive threshold from 35mcg per 100ml of breath to 22mcg. Doing so would bring the law in line with Scotland and other European countries
Dominic Smith, head of the road traffic department at motoring solicitors firm Patterson Law, said prison sentences were a ‘distinct possibility’ for repeat offenders.
He explained: ‘If people have multiple convictions it would strongly indicate that, on at least one occasion, they were charged with both drink driving and driving whilst disqualified.
‘Both offences carry up to six months in prison.
‘For a first offence, an immediate prison sentence is unlikely, but with repeated offences prison becomes a distinct possibility.
‘With an early guilty plea, you’d be looking at two months behind bars. That means somebody could continue to drink drive – the court could even disqualify them for life – but they’d serve short stints in prison.
‘In very particular circumstances, a defendant can put forward a ‘special reason’, such as drink driving during a genuine emergency or if their drink was spiked without their knowledge.
‘In these circumstances the court would find somebody guilty, meaning the conviction would be shown on their record, but they wouldn’t be disqualified.’
Being caught over the limit could land you with an unlimited fine, an automatic driving ban of at least a year and up to six months in prison.
Mr Bryan said: ‘It’s clear the message is not getting through to some people, despite numerous high-profile campaigns that often portray harrowing scenarios where families are ripped apart due to the consequences of drink driving.
‘It may well be time for the authorities to introduce lower limits and stricter laws in order to force these people into changing their attitudes and their behaviour.’
Last year it was revealed that one driver had a booze reading considered ‘potentially fatal’ after being clocked at six-and-a-half times the legal limit.
The 39-year-old male registered an astonishing 513mg/dL in July 2024 – the highest blood level recorded over the past decade.
