We have submitted evidence to the Department for Transport’s consultation on proposed changes to penalties for motoring offences.
In our response, we highlighted that:
- The drink driving limit should be reduced to 20mg (milligrammes) of alcohol/100ml (millilitres) of blood for all drivers
- This sends a clear message that the legal level is essentially no alcohol beyond what may naturally exist in someone’s body
- A person’s ability to drive is affected after consuming any amount of alcohol
- Drivers with a BAC of between 20mg and 50mg alcohol/100ml blood have at least a three times greater risk of dying in a vehicle crash
- There is strong public support for this, with 50% of people surveyed agreeing the limit should be reduced to zero or 20mg alcohol/100ml blood
Our other recommendations include:
- If the limit is only reduced to 50mg alcohol/100ml blood, a lower drink driving limit of 20mg alcohol/100ml blood for novice and commercial drivers
- Use of alcolocks as part of drink drive rehabilitation courses, following testing for alcohol dependency
- Mandating drink drive rehabilitation courses for all offenders
- Launching effective drink-driving communications campaigns
- Improving data collection
