Published : Thursday, 7 May 2009
Drink driving is a significant problem. 540 people died and almost 2000 were seriously injured in drink-drive related crashes in 2006 in the UK.
One in six road deaths continues to be drink drive related and half of all drivers killed in night-time crashes are over the drink drive limit.
While drink-drive related crashes have decreased in recent years, drink drive related road deaths are falling more slowly than all other road deaths.
Some 2% of all drivers breathalysed after a crash are over the limit and another 2% refuse the test. This has remained constant over the last ten years. However, without random breath testing, we do not have a good estimate of the true extent of drink driving among the general driving population.
Drivers are more than twice as likely to be involved in a fatal crash between 50 mg and 80 mg.
The UK has relatively tough penalties compared to other countries, including a minimum 12 month driving ban for first time offenders.
The UK cracked down on drink drivers in 1967 with the introduction of driving bans and prison sentences for drink drivers.
However, our 80 mg/100ml blood alcohol limit is the highest in Europe, where 50mg/100ml is the norm.
Road safety has benefited from the boldness in tackling drink driving shown 40 years ago, but this needs to be renewed. More could and should be done to reduce drink driving. These include:
- A lower blood alcohol limit (50mg/100ml) and zero tolerance for novice and commercial drivers;
- Increased and randomised breath testing—limits do not enforce themselves;
- Interim bans for drivers who test positive at the scene, starting with those drivers who have caused a fatal or injury crash;
- Lifetime bans for drink drivers convicted of causing a death;
- Vehicle confiscation after drink driving (already possible for driving while uninsured);
- Home Office targets included tackling drink driving.
