A 50mg limit could produce a saving of 200 lives each year

A 50mg limit could produce a saving of 200 lives each year

The increase in the number of alcohol-related road deaths in
1995 may not have happened had last Christmas the Secretary of State
announced the lowering of the legal limit for drinking and driving
(alcohol-related road deaths increased by 7.5% – from 540 in 1994 to 580
in 1995).

The Netherlands, which has had a 50mg.% limit for 20 years,
has a far better road safety record for drinking and driving. In 1995
The Netherlands alcohol-related road deaths was 87 out of a total of
1,334 compared with the UK 580 out of 3,621. In other words 1 in 15 road
deaths in The Netherlands compared with l in 6 in the UK are
alcohol-related.

The Secretary of State has the power today to enact the new
limit. It could be enacted before Christmas. The Dutch experience
suggests that lives would be saved in the UK with a lower limit. If it
had the same impact, as in The Netherlands, there could be an eventual
saving of at least 200 lives and it could be even as high as 300 lives
each year. When celebrating Christmas 1997, it is a gift many families
would have longed for.