By David Clegg

EASTERN EUROPEAN immigrants living in Tayside are being caught drink driving on a “frequent” basis—often well over the limit—the officer in charge of road policing in the area said last night.

Chief Inspector Sandy Bowman told The Courier that measures were being put in place to tackle the issue.

He was speaking after the issue of Polish nationals breaking road traffic law was raised during a court case in Dundee.

“There are a number of people on our roads who do not heed road traffic law,” he said.

“Among them are certain drivers from overseas—noticeably Eastern Europe—who are either unaware of, or who have a blatant disregard for, our road traffic laws, particularly in relation to drinking and driving.

“I think it is fair to say that foreign drivers—that is people who have recently arrived in Scotland from overseas—are being detected on a frequent basis whilst over the drink drive limit. Very often they are far in excess of that limit.

“The problem is in no way exclusive to Tayside, but it is something that we are determined to address through education at a local and national level,” said Mr Bowman.

“As with any legislation, ignorance is no excuse.”

Earlier this week Sheriff Richard Davidson fined Polish national Andrzej Matusik £600 and banned him from driving for 18 months after he admitted being in charge of a van with excess alcohol on his breath.

Passing sentence, Sheriff Davidson said, “There appears to be very poor compliance by Polish nationals with this aspect of UK law.”

Mr Bowman said it wasn’t clear why Eastern Europeans appeared to be breaking traffic laws in this way.

At present, most European nations have a permitted drink-drive limit of 50mgs while Scotland’s is 80mgs.

In contrast, Poland’s limit is 20mgs and Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary state they have a zero tolerance to drinking and driving.

Tayside Police have recently distributed leaflets in Polish, Russian, Lithuanian and French—notably within the farming communities—with advice on drink-drive limits, seatbelts, speeding and other road traffic legislation.

In Perth and Kinross the local authority has helped produce posters and information cards in Polish and Russian with specific information about drink-drive and seatbelt laws.