Comment: Brake urges cross-party support on lower drink-drive limit
The Sunday Times has reported that Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, expects an official review of the drink and drug drive laws by Sir Peter North to recommend reducing the legal drink-drive limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg. He said he would take this “very seriously” and added: “A strong case has been made to have a lower limit.”
But today’s Daily Mail reports that Tory transport spokesman Theresa Villiers has suggested a Tory Government would not reduce the drink-driving limit, saying: ‘We do not believe the case has been made to justify such a change. We would focus on improving enforcement of the current rules.’
Brake’s deputy chief executive Cathy Keeler met with Sir Peter North in February as part of the official review. She said: “While better enforcement of drink-driving is certainly needed, a lower limit is vital to ensure that the Government’s ‘Don’t drink and drive’ campaign message is not undermined. Many drivers assume that as long as they are under the legal limit, they are safe to drive. In fact, people driving at the current blood alcohol limit are 10 times more likely to crash than if they had no alcohol in their blood. Someone doesn’t need to be obviously ‘drunk’ for their coordination and judgement of complex situations to be impaired by alcohol. It’s a disgrace that Britain, which prides itself on being a road safety leader, should have the highest drink-drive limit in Europe. We have urged Sir Peter to recommend a limit of 20mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood or less. There is strong evidence to suggest this could save many lives and it is a measure that deserves cross-party support.”
Brake and insurer Direct Line are due to publish results from a survey of drivers’ views on drink and drug drive laws later this week.
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