Skip to main content

UK road safety charity calls for drivers to stay sober

UK road safety charity Brake is calling on drivers to stay sober if driving over the Christmas period or plan to get home by taxi or public transport, to prevent road casualties. Brake is renewing calls for a zero tolerance drink drive limit of 20mg alcohol per 100ml of blood, in line with evidence which claims that even one drink dramatically increases crash risk and to send a clear message it should be none for the road. Brake says a blood alcohol level of 20-50mg increases the likelihood of crashing t
December 19, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
UK road safety charity 4235 Brake is calling on drivers to stay sober if driving over the Christmas period or plan to get home by taxi or public transport, to prevent road casualties.

Brake is renewing calls for a zero tolerance drink drive limit of 20mg alcohol per 100ml of blood, in line with evidence which claims that even one drink dramatically increases crash risk and to send a clear message it should be none for the road. Brake says a blood alcohol level of 20-50mg increases the likelihood of crashing three-fold.

The call comes on the back of a recent survey by Brake and Direct Line which showed that more than three-quarters of drivers thought the current drink-drive limit too high.

Brake also called on the government to take action on drink driving. The Scottish Government introduced a lower limit of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in December 2014. The rest of the UK still retains an 80mg limit, higher than all other EU countries except Malta. Road Safety Scotland launched its drink-drive campaign this month.

Related Content

  • August 20, 2015
    European tunnel upgrades following new safety legislation
    Across Europe there is a very mixed picture of compliance to latest safety standards for road tunnels. Best practice has emerged, however, in the wake of European legislation. Jon Masters reports High profile fatal fires following accidents in the Mont Blanc, Tauern and Gotthard tunnels prompted the 2004 European Union Directive 2004/54 on road tunnel safety. This meant all EU member states would have to meet new standards of safety in road tunnels by 30 April 2014. The Directive applied to all tunnels over
  • November 27, 2015
    Brake, FTA welcome new guidelines on reporting medically ‘unfit’ drivers
    Road safety charity Brake and the Freight Transport Association have welcomed the General Medial Council’s strengthened guidelines to all doctors emphasising their duty to disclose information to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) or DVA (Northern Ireland), where the patient has failed to act. It’s a shift that’s welcomed by road safety charity, Brake, which has long called for greater clarity from the GMC. Gary Rae, director of communications and campaigns for the charity, said: “This is
  • November 6, 2015
    Technology, social media bigger perceived threats than drink-driving, IAM finds
    Motorists are now more worried about the dangers of distraction posed by technology and social media than drink-driving, according to the Institute of Advanced Motorist’s (IAM) first major survey into safety culture. The Safety Culture Index report was launched today by the IAM, and is a study of more than 2,000 UK motorists’ attitudes to driving safety and behaviour on our roads. IAM claims it will form a definitive baseline to track changes over time, providing the opportunity to examine how attitudes
  • December 4, 2012
    ITS World Congress debates perceptions of enforcement
    The technical programme of this year’s ITS World Congress in Vienna includes a special session on the image of enforcement. ITS International examines the scale of the problem and what can be done about it. Debate on the merits and difficulties of enforcing speed limits appears centred on a conflict of principles. Put very simply, local communities, people living close to busy or hazardous roads, want to see traffic speeds calmed. Drivers on those roads, on the whole, want their principle of freedom to be m