Government to consult on lower drink-drive limit

Road safety minister Stephen Ladyman confirmed this week that a Government consultation later this year would include a cut in the limit from 80 milligrams (mgs) of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, to 50 mgs. However, he added that any reduction would depend upon more effective enforcement by the police of current drink-driving laws.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport (DfT) said: "As part of our latest road safety review in February we said we would keep under review the case for a lower drink drive limit.

"The UK already has stringent penalties for drink driving, and better enforcement than many countries, but that doesn't mean we can't do better."

She added: "We have said many times that we plan to explore ways of making drink driving enforcement easier for police. This will take the form of a consultation later in the year - and until that is complete it is impossible to say what measures may or may not be taken forward."

Safest in Europe?

The proposals came as a report showed that the UK no longer has the safest roads in Europe.

The country lost its top ranking position in the European road safety league, as progress on reducing the number of road deaths had been slower than in other nations.

The UK now has a higher number of road deaths per million of the population than the Netherlands and Sweden, according to yesterday's European Transport Safety Council's (ETSC) Road Safety PIN Report.

Mary Williams, chief executive of road safety charity Brake commented: "Cutting the drink-drive limit and giving police powers to randomly test drivers are measures we have repeatedly called for to tackle the devastation caused by drink drivers.

"We have put up with lax drink-driving laws for too long while the British Government has sat back and watched our European neighbours leading the way."

RAC report

The latest RAC Report on Motoring (2007), out this week, called for a number of new measures to be introduced to combat the problem of drink-driving - including a lower 50 mgs limit and random breath testing.

The report said that random breath tests were supported by 71% of drivers, while a limit of 50 mgs was backed by 69% of the 2,000 motorists questioned by the RAC.

Almost three quarters (73%) wanted public 'naming and shaming' of drink drivers, while 67% thought it would be good to see vehicles fitted with 'alco-locks' - breath testing equipment that can stop cars from being started if the drivers blood alcohol is too high.

Other measures called for by the RAC were a minimum two year ban for first-time drink driving offences, permanent points on licences following disqualification and automatic banning for life after a third offence.

The report also called for measures to tackle drug-driving, including the urgent introduction of drug testing devices, a penalty regime in line with that of drink driving and more targeted publicity campaigns on the issue.