Cut the drink drive limit to cut road deaths

LARSOA, the Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association wants the government to reduce the drink drive limit from 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood to 50mg and bring it into line with most European Union member states.

Cutting the alcohol level would match the majority of other European countries and would limit drivers to half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine.

Last year over 14,000 casualties and 500 deaths occurred when someone was driving while over the legal limit for alcohol, and LARSOA believes reducing the limit will encourage more drivers not to take the car if they are going out, or have been for, a drink - especially over the festive period.

Simon Ettinghausen, spokesperson for LARSOA says: "We know the government wants the police to concentrate on those drivers who are well over the limit and who are most likely to cause a crash.   However, reducing the limit will make all drivers think again about drinking at all.

"It is almost impossible for anyone to calculate if they are over the legal limit to drive because alcohol affects everyone differently and depends on many factors. Our advice for drivers is not to drink any alcohol as even just a small amount can impair the reactions times.

"We believe lowering the limit to 50mg would be 'self-policing', encouraging drivers to decide themselves that it is unacceptable to risk innocent lives while driving under the influence and that the risk of being caught over the limit and facing the new year without a licence just too great.

Recent studies have shown Britain is lagging behind the rest of Europe in tackling drink-driving. All the main European countries have lowered their limits and the number of people killed in drink -drive crashes in Britain has risen from 460 in 1999 to 560 in 2005, whereas Germany and the Netherlands have reduced drink-drive deaths by more than 50 per cent.

Research by University College London found that lowering the limit to 50mg would prevent an estimated 65 deaths and 230 injuries a year in Britain. It would also save the economy £119 million a year by reducing medical costs and lost working time.

There is also concern that the message of saying no to drink driving is not getting through to the new generation of drivers.

According to figures from the Department for Transport, 1,050 17- to 19-year-olds were involved in drink-drive crashes in England and Wales in 2005, compared with only 810 in 1995. For 20- to 25-year-olds, the figure increased from 2,170 to 2,280 in the same period.

Mr Ettinghausen added: "Young people think that because there is a limit that you can drink to, then it is safe to drink something. We need to underline the message that you are not safe if you drink then drive.

Notes to Newsdesks/Reporters: For further information please contact Peter Whelan on 01287 610404 or 07863 130124

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.