18 December 2008

Road safety experts tell Government to see sense on drink-drive limit

Road safety experts from the Local Authority Road Safety Officers’ Association  (LARSOA) have called on the Government to see sense this Christmas and commit to reducing the drink drive limit.
 
LARSOA wants the current limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood reduced to 50mg, bringing the UK in line with the rest of Europe and saving dozens of lives on our roads every year.
 
The association has been calling on the government to review the limit for some time and in November expressed grave concerns over its apparent reluctance to tackle drink-drivers.
 
Reducing the drink-drive limit to 50mg would encourage people not to drink and get behind the wheel. The amount of alcohol a person can consume before reaching the drink-drive limit is not clear cut and varies according to a number of factors such as a person’s size and whether they have eaten recently or not.
 
Any amount of alcohol consumed will affect a person’s ability to drive and LARSOA believes that the safest option for anyone who is celebrating the festive period this year is leaving the car at home.
 
Whilst many advocate a zero limit, LARSOA feels this is unrealistic as we all may well have an ambient level of alcohol in our blood that could lead to people being prosecuted when they have not knowingly consumed an alcoholic drink.
 
The latest road casualty statistics show that in 2007 there was a slight increase in the overall number of drink related casualties to 14,480 (2006 = 14,350), continuing to represent 16% of total casualties.  The number of drink related fatalities remained stubbornly high at 460, also 16% of the total number.
  
LARSOA believes that a reduction in the limit would substantially reduce these figures, as it would encourage motorists to leave the keys at home if they were planning to have a drink.
 
Alan Kennedy, Vice-Chair of LARSOA, said:
“Drink-drivers have the potential to ruin the lives of families all over the UK this Christmas by selfishly getting behind the wheel after having a drink. LARSOA wants the government to give the whole country a present this year and commit to reducing the limit from 80mg to 50mg.”
 
“It is impossible for anyone to judge if they are over the legal limit to drive because alcohol affects everyone differently and it depends on various factors such as if a driver has eaten or had a drink on an empty stomach.
 
“A reduction in the limit would send a clear message to the vast majority of people that it is not safe to drink and then get behind the wheel. This would allow the police to concentrate on tackling the hardcore of persistent offenders who continue to put lives at risk by drinking and driving.
 
“LARSOA would urge anyone who is going out with friends or colleagues to celebrate the festive period to leave the car at home and use an alternative method of getting home.”
 
Research shows that a reduction in the limit to 50mg would save as many as 65 lives on the roads every year as well as reducing the number of serious injuries to drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
 
ACPO figures show that last year almost 8,000 motorists were caught over the festive period with excess alcohol in their blood, but LARSOA believes that this figure would have been much higher had the limit been reduced.

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.