UK drink-drive levels among highest in Europe

UK officers carried out nearly 14,000 breath tests in the week-long campaign last month, of which 829, or 6%, were over the limit. Only Switzerland and Moldova uncovered a higher proportion of drink-drivers - 6.6% and 19% respectively.

Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police Adam Briggs, who is also president of road policing organisation Tispol which co-ordinated the campaign, said summer was now firmly established as a bigger drink-driving problem than Christmas. He raised the prospect of a lower alcohol limit for motorists as a crisis measure to cut deaths on the roads.

Mr Briggs said: "We are determined to find a way forward to reduce this unacceptable level of hard-core drink drivers and to make the roads safer for everyone.

"There are a number of possibilities including reducing the legal limit, the introduction of random roadside testing, increasing the penalties or continuing to improve education."

Former transport minister Stephen Ladyman said last year he believed a reduced legal limit would eventually be introduced in the UK, probably to 50 milligrammes (mg) of alcohol per 100 millilitres (ml) of blood.

The UK currently has the highest drink-drive limit in Europe at 80 mg per 100ml, along with Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta. Some European countries have a zero limit, and the majority enforce limits of either 20 mg or 50 mg per 100 ml.

Consultation soon

During the campaign police in 18 countries carried out a record number of roadside tests - more than 850,000. The average proportion of positive tests was just 1.7%.

Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland all reported less than 1% of drivers tested to be over the limit. In Germany, the figure was 1.2% and in France 2.2%.

The summer campaign's results in the UK were lower than last year's, which saw an 8% fail rate, but significantly higher than the 4.1% of drink-drivers uncovered by roadside tests last Christmas.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said a consultation on ways of making it easier for police to tackle drink-driving was planned for later in the year.

She added: "More than 30 years of Government education campaigns and measures to improve enforcement have cut the number of people killed in drink-drive accidents each year by two thirds since 1979.

"This short survey shows that UK police are highly skilled at targeting their enforcement to catch as many drink drivers as possible. However, we know we must do more to tackle this serious issue."