Drink driving - do you know your limit?

LARSOA, the Local Authority Road Safety Officers’ Association, is highlighting the dangers of drink driving as more people are stopping off for a drink after work or driving out to country pubs to take advantage of the lighter summer evenings.

The Association is concerned that the relatively high alcohol limit for drivers in this country, compared to lower levels in most of our European neighbours, gives people a false sense of how much they can drink and still drive.

David Frost, spokesman for LARSOA, says: “We know the government is looking into the possibility of reducing the current drink drive limit, by holding a consultation into reducing from the current of 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood to 50mg in line with other European countries. We urge the limit be lowered as a matter of urgency.

“Having a lower level would send out a clear message of how dangerous it is to drink and drive. Over the past couple of decades most road users have realised that drinking and driving is totally unacceptable, and we have seen a good reduction in the number of people being killed and injured on our roads because of excess alcohol. Sadly, the number of drink-drive related deaths now seems to be levelling out with a hard-core of drivers thinking the drink-drive laws do not apply to them.”

As well as hard-core offenders, LARSOA is also concerned that most people have no idea how much alcohol they can drink before they reach the legal limit.

David adds: “How much alcohol you can drink before you reach the legal limit depends very much on the individual and factors such as if they have had a meal with their drink. This means it is very hard to judge how much you can legally drink before driving which is why we say the only safe limit is none at all.

“People driving for a night out should have a designated driver who doesn’t drink alcohol at all. Pubs can help by offering free or cheaper soft drinks to that person. It’s far too easy for someone to reach for a second drink thinking they won’t be over the limit when, in fact, they may well be. They are putting themselves, their passengers and other road users at risk.”

ABOUT LARSOA

LARSOA is a national road safety organisation representing road safety officers (RSOs) employed in local government across the UK.

LARSOA represents 185 of the 200 eligible local authorities across the UK, assisting RSOs to fulfil their statutory role to reduce the number and severity of road casualties through education, training and publicity programmes.

LARSOA publishes an up-to-date round-up of road safety news from across the UK on its website www.larsoa.org.uk .

LARSOA also aims to influence national debate - government policy and action together with public opinion. The association works to achieve national recognition for road safety issues, commissions research into behaviour which contributes to road collisions and develops national road safety campaigns.

The association assists in identifying achievable national targets to reduce the number of collisions on the country's roads.