New calls for a lower drink driving limit in England and Wales

The legal drink drive limit should be lowered in England and Wales to help cut alcohol-related collisions according to an association of English local councils and fire and rescue authorities.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils and all fire and rescue authorities in England and Wales, is calling on the Government to drop the current Blood Alcohol Limit (BAC) from 0.8 to 0.5g/l.

England and Wales have one of the highest drink drive limits in the world and the highest in Europe, together with Malta who have announced plans to lower their limit to 0.5g/l. Northern Ireland is also planning to introduce a lower limit.

Provisional government figures show that reported ‘serious’ drink drive collisions between 2014 and 2015 in Great Britain have risen from 880 to 980 – an increase of 11 per cent – while total reported drink drive collisions have risen from 5,620 to 5,740 – a 2 per cent increase.

Scotland, which has lowered the drink drive limit to 50mg, saw a 20 per cent reduction in fatal road collisions in the first year after the new limit was introduced.