Fresh calls to reduce drink-drive limit

Richard Aucock, Contributor
Thu, 27 Jun 2024

A new campaign has been launched calling for a reduction in the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has produced a consensus statement that has been endorsed by numerous organisations including road safety charity Brake.

It aims to highlight the key steps needed to address drink-driving and drug-driving in the UK. 

England has one of the highest-drink-drive limits in Europe, with drivers allowed to have a blood alcohol concentration of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

The BMA wants this to be reduced to 50mg/100ml – with an even lower limit of just 20mg/100ml for new and commercial drivers.

The campaign comes as more than 200 people are consistently killed each year in drink-driving-related crashes, with many more seriously injured. These are often, says Brake, other road users who haven’t had anything to drink.

Indeed, alcohol and drug related deaths were at a record high in 2021 and 2022. Drink-drivers caused nearly 1 in 5 of all road deaths.

The BMA believes lower legal limits will help reduce the harm caused by driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

The BMA’s consensus statement covers five broad areas, with the headline call being to lower the blood alcohol content limit.

Once implemented, it wants to see adequate measures to enforce this, with sufficient funding for police to carry out more roadside alcohol and drug testing, and raised public awareness about the new limits.

It also wants increased alcohol and drug treatment services, and preventative policies to stop people drinking or taking drugs in the first place.

Finally, the BMA wants the measures in its consensus statement to be backed by legislative, regulatory and public health measures to address the wider harm caused by alcohol and drug use. These can include mandatory labelling of all alcohol products.

Road safety charity IAM RoadSmart is backing the campaign. "The number of people killed on our roads where at least one driver was over the limit has remained stubbornly high for over a decade," says its director of policy and standards Nicholas Lyes.

Lyes says cutting the drink-drive limit would be a positive step forward in reducing road casualties but that there also needs to be an increased emphasis on re-training.

"Evidence suggests that those who take a drink-drive rehabilitation course in the UK are two-and-a-half times less likely to reoffend," he adds.

Brake campaigns manager Lucy Straker says there is no failsafe way for a person to know their blood-alcohol concentration.

"Factors including age, weight, gender or how much you’ve eaten before drinking can affect it, so Brake recommends not having any alcohol to drink before driving."

Ask HJ

Will my daughter be charged for leaving the scene of an accident?

My daughter was driving home at 3am on Sunday morning in dark rainy conditions, she skidded, lost control and hit the kerb and a traffic light (which was damaged) She left the car in a safe place nearby and came home in a cab as she felt shaky and shocked.No one was injured, no other vehicles involved and the road wasn't obstructed. Her intention was to report to the police Station at a reasonable hr (she knew she had to report within 24 hrs) At 8am the police knocked on the door and she was read her rights and voluntarily explained what had happened. She had not been drinking/drugs, has a clean driving licence of 15 yrs fully insured (reported to insurers) The police said the brief statement will be passed to the traffic police and they will be in touch and that they couldn't say what will happen next .Could she be charged with leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving or other?

It is difficult to predict the outcome of this situation, as it depends on how the police interpret the sequence of events. Although there were no other parties involved the fact that the traffic light was damaged meant she was obliged to report the incident to the police, but we think it is reasonable that she went home first rather than doing so immediately. It could be argued however that she could have called the police once she was home, and the police will be looking for evidence of excessive speed or a lack of due care and attention. Unfortunately there is little you can do at this point other than to wait for further contact from the traffic police.

Answered by David Ross

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