Pressure mounts to cut drink-drive limits
Pressure is continuing to mount for a cut in drink-driving limits - threatening rural pubs.
With the festive season in full swing, doctors in Scotland have added their voice to calls from the newly-founded Alcohol Health Alliance for a cut in the limit.
BMA Scotland wants to see the limit reduced from 80mg/100ml to 50mg - which would leave drinkers able to drink no more than a strong half pint or a 175ml glass of wine before getting behind the wheel.
Currently the UK, along with Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta, is one of only four countries in the EU that has the upper limit. Westminster has sole power over the legislation.
Dr Sally Winning of BMA Scotland said: "Our message is clear. Lives could be saved simply by reducing the drink driving limit.
"There is evidence that driving is impaired with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level over 50mg/100ml and it is estimated that around 65 lives could be saved in the UK by lowering the limit."
Last month the Alcohol Health Alliance made a cut in the drink-driving limit to 50mg/100ml - and a near zero limit for new drivers - a key priority in its new campaign.
The Department for Transport has already announced plans for a consultation on the drink-drive limit in the New Year, with James Fitzpatrick, the road safety minister, admitting that zero-tolerance will be one of the options under consideration.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport told The Publican: "We have no definite plans, but next year's consultation will be an opportunity for discussion and change."
This has sparked fears within the trade that a reduction could hail the death of the country pub, with many licensees believing a half pint may not be enough to tempt pub-goers to their local watering-hole.
Paul Dorehill, licensee at the Royal Standard of England in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire said: "We target quality rather than quantity, but if they drop it any further, then even the quality will go. A half pint is nothing. If the armed forces are allowed to drink, then so should everybody else."
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The Department for Transport's latest Think! drink-driving campaign launched last month
