Parliamentary advisory council calls on government to renew fight against drink driving

Fiftieth anniversary of the breathalyser, 9 October 2017

Monday 9 October marks the fiftieth anniversary of the breathalyser.

In recognition of this, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) has called on the UK Government to renew the fight against drink driving.

After a long period of decline in drink drive death and injury, progress seems to have stalled since 2010.

Worryingly, breath testing by police has fallen to a fifteen-year low. A more ambitious and comprehensive approach is needed that takes account of resourcing realities and uses intelligence and technology better.

In PACTS’ report, Fifty years of the breathalyser – where now for drink driving?, drink and drug driving expert Dr Rob Tunbridge and PACTS Policy Officer Katy Harrison chart the development of the UK’s framework of drug drive research, legislation, enforcement and education. It celebrates the dramatic change in social attitudes to drink driving and the 73% reduction in casualties over the past 50 years.

The authors emphasise the importance of adequate levels of police enforcement and penalties for offenders. UK courts impose an automatic one-year driving ban, licence endorsements and fines on drivers for a first offence whereas many other countries, with lower legal limits, impose only fines.

Despite progress, drink driving remains a major causation factor in road casualties, accounting for 11% of fatalities. The Scottish Government has shown a new appetite to tackle the problem by cutting the legal blood alcohol concentration limit from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml of blood. The Northern Ireland Government intends to do the same, but with an even lower 20mg limit for professional and newly qualified drivers. The authors make clear that driving at just below the 80mg limit is unsafe. They call for the Government to assess the outcomes from Scotland and reconsider a lower limit for England and Wales.

David Davies, Executive Director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said: “The past fifty years of drink drive progress are a road safety success. But after a long period in which drink drive deaths fell substantially, we have had a series of years of little or no change and declining enforcement. Surveys consistently show that road users are concerned about drink driving, want more roads policing and would support change. The report shows there is no magic bullet to solving drink driving and the government needs to use all levers at its disposal.”

Production of the report was supported by D.Tec International, suppliers of the road side drug driver screener “DrugWipe”. Ean Lewin, Managing Director of D.Tec International, said: "Let us learn from the 50 years of drink drive education and enforcement to make drug driving just as socially unacceptable in just 5 years. With over 10,000 drug drive prosecutions in 2016 alone, lives are already being saved and life changing injuries are being reduced."