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Scottish drink driving consultation launched

The Scottish Government is seeking views on its proposals to lower the drink drive limit.

Following the recent transfer of power to set the legal limit from Westminster to Holyrood, the Scottish Government has launched a consultation on its proposal to reduce the existing blood/alcohol limit of 80mg/100ml to 50mg/100ml.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill believes lowering the limit will help make Scotland’s roads safer. The most recent Reported Road Casualty figures estimate that just over one in nine deaths on Scotland’s roads involve drivers who are over the limit. This equates to an average of 30 deaths on Scotland’s roads every year.

The Justice Secretary said: "This consultation seeks views on reducing the drink driving limit to a level which would bring Scotland into line with most of Europe and which will help save lives on our roads. Estimates of how many lives can be saved with a lower limit do vary, but there is evidence that indicates between 3 and 17 lives each year could be saved on Scottish roads from a lower limit of 50mg/100ml."

Deputy Chief Constable Tom Ewing, secretary of Road Policing for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS), welcomed the opportunity to take part in a wide consultation on a reduction of the current drink drive limits, claiming that it could help ACPOS "continue the good work already being done to make Scotland’s roads safer and work positively towards the targets laid out in the Scottish Road Safety Framework to 2020."

The consultation is open until 29 November 2012.