The Department for Transport has published statistics on drink drive crashes in Great Britain for 2016. This shows an estimated increase in the number of road deaths, the number of injuries, and the total number of crashes relating to at least one driver being over the alcohol limit.
Commenting on the statistics, Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at road safety charity Brake, said:
“How many more lives must be needlessly lost before the Government acts on drink-driving? Today’s figures show that drink-driving is an increasing blight on British roads and yet the Government sits on its hands and refuses to address the issue. The Government should put its money where its mouth is and align the law with the message from its ‘Think!’ campaign: “if you’re driving, it’s better to have none for the road”. Only this zero-tolerance approach can create the change required to rid our roads of the menace of drink-driving.”
“The current drink-driving limit gives a false impression that it is safe to drink and drive – this is a dangerous message and one that couldn’t be further from the truth. Research has shown even very small amounts of alcohol dramatically affect safe driving – drivers with levels of alcohol in their blood just half the current legal limit are at least twice more likely to die in a crash than those with no alcohol at all.”
“Our current drink-driving law lacks clarity, is badly understood and supports the perception that mixing alcohol and driving is acceptable – this needs to change. Brake is calling for the Government to implement an effective zero tolerance drink-drive limit of 20mg per 100ml of blood, making clear to drivers that not a drop of alcohol is safe.”
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