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   Government urged to 'drastically reduce' legal drink-drive limit
Reducing the limit from the current 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to just 50mg would save hundreds of lives a year, a Whitehall-commissioned report by leading academic and legal expert Sir Peter North said. He also recommended that the 12-month driving ban - automatic for those who exceed the current limit - should be maintained for the new 50mg limit. Sir Peter, who was asked by former transport secretary Lord Adonis to review drink and drug-driving laws, also called for police to be given greater powers to check for drink-drivers and for drink-drive procedures to be streamlined, to increase police time on the roads. Making 51 recommendations in all, Sir Peter said that police procedures enforcing current drug-driving laws should be improved, making it more straightforward for police to identify and prosecute drug-drivers by allowing nurses, as well as doctors, to authorise blood tests of suspects. Medium-term, he recommended early approval of saliva testing of drug-driving suspects in police stations, which would largely overcome the environmental problems in roadside use that have previously slowed technological development of so-called "drugalysers". Drawing on comprehensive new research commissioned from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), Sir Peter said that as many as 168 lives - approximately 7% of current road deaths in Britain - could be saved in the first year of a reduced limit, rising to as many as 303 lives saved by the sixth year following any change in the law. In his report, Sir Peter was keen to emphasise that a 50mg limit is not zero and that a driver could still have a drink without infringing the limit. His review identified that many people do not know how much they could drink and stay within the legal limit, old or new, and that differences in people's response to alcohol made setting drink "quotas" a difficult, and possibly risky, strategy. Although keen not to damage Britain's already fragile country pub industry, Sir Peter said: "Research conclusively shows the much higher risk posed by drink-driving. With a blood alcohol level between my proposed new limit of 50mg/100ml and the current 80mg/100ml limit, a driver has a six times greater risk of road death than a non-drinking driver. "Having considered the issues carefully and considered views from all quarters, I not only believe that it is right to reduce the limit, but that the public is ready for a lower limit. It is time to give them what they want." He went on: "Surveys also tell us that the public is in favour of lengthy bans for drink-drivers and witnesses have told me that the current ban is the major deterrent to drink-driving. I am therefore clear that the 12-month ban needs to be maintained at a 50mg/100ml limit." In calling for greater powers for the police, Sir Peter said he had decided against recommending specific targeting of young people or professional drivers. On the question of a new law setting banned drug levels, Sir Peter said: "The focus should be on public safety. Any new offence should therefore focus on establishing levels of drugs in the blood at which significant impairment - and therefore, risk to public safety - can be reasonably assumed, as is the case now for drink-driving." Responding to concerns from patients and healthcare professionals that people taking medicines would be banned from driving, Sir Peter stressed that this was not his intention. Instead, he highlighted the fact that although medicines can be as impairing to driving as illegal drugs, there is an important opportunity for the relevant parties to work together to improve public awareness and the driving patient's safety. Lawyer Nick Freeman, dubbed Mr Loophole for clearing celebrity clients of motoring charges, welcomed calls to lower the limit but said drivers should still be entitled to have one drink. He said: "The current limit is far too high. Statistics show that if you drive at the current level, you are four times more likely to have an accident. But these recommendations are an over-reaction and unnecessary. "Motorists should be able to have one drink, and setting the level at 50 would allow for this. There is no need to go further than the rest of Europe, we should simply be in line with the rest of Europe. It's common sense." Mr Freeman also called for police to have powers to randomly breathalyse drivers. He added: "At the moment, the police have to have a reason to stop drivers in order to breathalyse them, but this is unnecessary. It can also mean that drink-drivers can escape if they can prove that the police had no just cause to stop them in the first place. Stopping drivers at random would solve this problem." The report was sent to Transport Secretary Philip Hammond last month but only published today. Mr Hammond said today: "Sir Peter's report is a serious piece of work that covers a wide range of issues. "We will need to carefully consider these with other Government departments. In doing so it is important that we fully investigate the economic and public service resource impact of any suggested changes to the law, taking account of the current financial and economic situation. "Our priority will be to tackle drink and drug-driving in the most effective way possible to protect law-abiding road users. We will respond to Sir Peter in due course." Alan Kennedy, chairman of Road Safety GB, which represents more than 200 local authority road safety teams, said: "Each year hundreds of people die at the hands of drink-drivers, yet the UK currently has some of the most lenient drink-driving laws in Europe. We are one of only five countries in the EU with a legal limit of 80mg. "Drug-driving is also a serious and growing problem, with ill-defined legislation creating a high degree of public confusion surrounding the topic. "Sir Peter's recommendations would bring the UK into line with drink and drug-driving legislation in many other EU countries. This is a great opportunity to significantly reduce the number of deaths on our roads and we urge the Government to accept the North findings." Source: 24dash.com Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. 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