On Friday the House of Lords will debate lowering the drink-driving limit,as a bill to amend the Road Traffic Act reaches committee stage. We urge the Lords to support this bill. There are currently approximately 5620 alcohol-related road traffic accidents a year in England, resulting in approximately 240 deaths and 8000 injuries. The existing evidence is clear that lowering the blood-alcohol concentration limit from 80mg/100ml, and as the bill proposes,to 50mg/100ml would reduce this burden.
It would save lives, save money, and reduce pressure on the police,fire and ambulance services, as well as NHS emergency departments. When Scotland lowered the limit, and drink-driving offences went down 12.5% in the first nine months,but there is no need to wait for the full findings from Scotland, the existing evidence is already compellingContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com