A lower drink-drive limit and a 'French-style' law which makes it a legal requirement for motorists to keep a breathalyser in their vehicle could help save lives, says Suzannah Robin, alcohol safety expert at Alcodigital.
France introduced the breathalyser law in 2012 and figures released last year by its road safety board, the CISR , reported an 8% decrease in road deaths in 2013 – the lowest level of fatalities on French roads since 1948.
“The introduction of a lower drink-drive limit in England and Wales to fall in line with Scotland will save hundreds of lives," said Suzannah Robin, an alcohol safety expert at Alcodigital.
"However, as results in France have shown, there is the opportunity to save dozens of more lives through the introduction of a similar breathalyser law across the UK.”
Robin said sales of breathalysers in the UK to individuals have quadrupled since the introduction of the French breathalyser law in 2012 and the reduction in the drink-drive limit in Scotland in December 2014.
She added: “We wholeheartedly support a reduction in the drink-drive limit in England and Wales. However, more needs to be done to address issues such as drivers who are unaware that they may still not be safe to drive the morning after drinking.
"We would actively encourage a debate on introducing a breathalyser law to the UK so that even more lives can be saved.”
Although there is still a legal requirement to carry a breathalyser in France, the introduction of an €11 fine for non-compliance has been postponed indefinitely.
Busterrabbit - 02/02/2016 11:43
Are we also going to adopt the penalties from France, whereby it's not an automatic ban and a criminal record for being slightly over the limit? Our roads are already statistically safer than France, so it could be argued that they could increase their limit to match the UK. It is not that simple.