Almost half of drivers surveyed don’t know the legal drink-drive limit
10 October 2022
Almost half (42 per cent) of 1,004 drivers surveyed as part of new research commissioned by road safety charity IAM RoadSmart admitted to not knowing the legal drink-drive limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
If we consider this figure respectively of the 35 million people who hold a full UK driving licence, there are potentially 15 million motorists unaware of the legal drink-drive limit.
Of the subjects who answered that they did know the legal drink-drive limit in the UK, 60 per cent answered incorrectly.
This means that just 23 per cent knew the correct limit, which is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath. You can calculate your blood alcohol limit based on your gender, height and weight and other details here.
These findings are despite a noted drop in drink-driving accidents in the UK government’s final figures for 2020 released by the Department for Transport (DfT).
The number of people killed or injured in drink drive accidents in the UK fell by 17 percent from 7,800 in 2019 to 6,480 in 2020 and drunk drivers accounted for 15 per cent of road deaths.
The Department for Transport noted, however, that the drop is largely in line with an overall reduction in road traffic accidents during the same period, which is likely related to Covid19 restrictions at the time resulting in less drivers on the roads.
Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart said, “Our research highlights that there is still a real lack of awareness regarding how much alcohol is too much before it is illegal to drive.
“We would like to remind drivers that individual characteristics such as body weight, food consumption, gender and metabolism will also have an impact on the reading.
“This is why we will always recommend ‘none for the road’.”
IAM RoadSmart has reiterated its plea to the UK government to implement new measures to reduce the number of drink-drivers on the roads.
Neil Greig added, “A prosecution for drink-driving will impact the rest of your life through public humiliation, loss of earnings, family break up and a criminal record, as well as adding real danger to our roads.
“We estimate that the last drink that takes you over the limit could cost you up to £70,000. If that isn’t a sobering thought, then nothing is.”
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