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Lower Legal Drink-Drive Limit Called For In Britain

Councils and fire authorities have urged for the legal drink-drive limit to be lowered in England and Wales, in an attempt to cut alcohol-related accidents.

The LGA (Local Government Association)  estimated that lowering the limit in England and Wales could save up to 170 lives in the first year, rising to more than 300 lives in the sixth year.

The calling for the current limit to be lowered is from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

The success of a lower legal drink-drive limit can be seen in Scotland, who reduced its legal limit to 50mg in 2014. Northern Ireland will also drop its limit to the same level soon. An even lower limit will be put in place for professional and learner drivers.

The limit would save the governments £300 million every year by reducing the number of 999 responses and hospital admissions.

From 2010 to 2015, the number of people killed in reported drink-drive accidents is between 220 and 240.

The chairperson of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board, Simon Blackburn, said: “England and Wales will soon have the highest drink-drive limit in Europe, which is not sending the right message to motorists and safety campaigners.”

“A lower alcohol limit would help to deter motorists from drinking at all before getting behind the wheel and encourage them to have ‘none for the road’.”

He said: “Those over the current drink driving limit cause a disproportionate amount of harm. These are the people we need to focus our efforts and resources upon.

The director of policy and research at IAM RoadSmart, a road safety charity, Neil Greig, said: “IAM RoadSmart and its members are very supportive of a lower limit.

“The early experience in Scotland is that a lower limit encourages a ‘none for the road’ approach, which is good for road safety as you are up to six times more likely to crash even below the English limit.

“The Government are, however, correct that lower limits are often ignored by the minority who have an alcohol problem.

“Consistent enforcement through high-profile policing and better use of intelligence must continue to address the hard core drinker problem.”

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