Review of drink and drug-driving law recommends reducing the drink-drive limit
Wednesday 16 June 2010
The North Review published today recommends that the drink-drive limit is reduced from 80mg/100ml to 50mg/100ml.
The North Review was set up by the Labour government to review the law on drink and drug driving.
Drawing on new research commissioned from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Sir Peter North estimates that tens, perhaps even hundreds, of lives could be saved annually by reducing the blood alcohol limit to 50 mg/100ml. The Review makes 51 recommendations to the Secretary of State for Transport, including giving greater powers to the police to check for drink-drivers, and streamlining drink-drive procedures to increase police time on the roads.
Recent statistics show that there were 430 drink-drive deaths in 2008, but the report stresses that many others are dying as a result of crashes involving drivers impaired by alcohol but below the current limit. Provisional figures for the total number of casualties in 2008 show that 5% of all reported road casualties were related to drink-driving. Read more.