RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

January 09, 2003
GOVERNMENT MUST ACT AFTER NO PROGRESS ON DRINK-DRIVE

The Government must stiffen the law if the drink-driving menace is to beaten, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said today as new figures revealed no progress in recent Christmas campaigns.

RoSPA said that lowering the drink-drive limit from 80mg to 50mg could save 50 lives and prevent hundreds of injuries on UK roads each year. As well as a reduction in the limit, police had to be given powers to breath test drivers anywhere and at any time.

Kevin Clinton, RoSPA Head of Road Safety, said: “Even after 25 years of drink-drive campaigns, thousands of drivers still take to the road when over the limit. We need to send a clear message to motorists that drinking and driving is socially unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

“The Government considered reducing the drink-drive limit last year, but decided to take no action. The latest Christmas and New Year figures show that something has to be done if progress is to be made. Reducing the limit would be a massive step forward.

“The government’s own figures showed that a reduction in the limit could save 50 lives and prevent 250 serious injuries and 1,200 slight injuries each year. At levels between 50mg and 80mg drivers are 2 – 4 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than drivers with no alcohol. We are now one of only four countries out of 15 in the EU with a level above 50mg. It is time for action.

“We have known there has been a problem with hardened drinkers for a long time but we are worried that the new generation of drivers is prepared to take the risk of drinking and driving. We have to stop that trend.”

Figures for England, Wales and Northern Ireland show that nearly nine per cent of drivers tested after collisions during the Christmas and New Year period failed a breath test – the highest percentage since 1997/1998.