New figures show the number of people killed in drink-drive collisions reached a 13-year high in 2022.

Data from the Department for Transport shows that between 290 and 320 people were killed in drink-drive collisions in 2022, with a central estimate of 300 fatalities.

The estimate is the highest since 2009 and represents an increase from 2021 –when there were 260 fatalities.

The estimate also means that the percentage of road deaths that were drink-drive related in 2022 was 18% – the same as in 1987 - a figure described by the RAC as “abhorrent”.

Meanwhile, the central estimate of the number of killed or seriously injured drink-drive casualties in 2022 is 1,920, an increase of 3% on 2021.

Rod Dennis, RAC road safety spokesperson, said: “While the number of people killed by drink-drivers is still thankfully far lower now compared to the final decades of the 20th century, the fact we’re back to a similar rate of fatalities caused by people drinking and driving as we were in the late 1980s is abhorrent.

“It’s abundantly clear that a hard core of people, especially men, continue to put the lives of all road users at risk by choosing to get behind the wheel after consuming too much alcohol.”

Personal breathalyser firm Alcosense has described the figures as shocking.

Hunter Abbott, MD of AlcoSense, said: “Drink drive casualties have been steadily declining since these figures were first published in 1979.

“But there’s been a shocking increase in fatalities over the past two years. In 2021, there were 260 deaths –which in turn was 40 more than in 2020.

“Some studies show that people who drink above government guidelines have been drinking more heavily since the pandemic, which may explain the increase in collisions where alcohol is a factor.

“Further, these figures only record collisions where a driver was actually over the legal limit, which in England and Wales is the highest in Europe.

“What they don’t tell you is how many more casualties were caused by ‘lethal but legal’ drivers –those who were under the official limit but still impaired.”

Click here for the full report on road casualties.