Drastic cut urged in drink-drive limit to save hundreds of lives

The report's author, Sir Peter North, said reducing the current limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to just 50mg would save hundreds of lives a year and was supported by the public.

He also stressed that the 12-month driving ban – automatic for those who exceed the current limit – should be maintained for the new 50mg limit.

Sir Peter said "responsible drivers" would still be able to have a pint or a glass of wine and remain within the law.

The limit-lowering proposal was one of 51 recommendations about drink- and drug-driving laws made by Sir Peter.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the Government would study the report carefully and respond "in due course".

It has been suggested that the new Government might not be keen on a lower legal limit. Asked about this yesterday, Sir Peter said: "I don't think this is a party political issue. It's about saving lives."

Sir Peter was asked to produce his report by former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis.

The report said 168 lives could be saved in the first year of a new lower limit and as many as 303 lives a year could be saved by the sixth year following a change in the law.

There should also be no move to reduce the limit to 20mg for young and novice drivers but the Government should review this position after five years and random breath tests should be introduced but in a "targeted and intelligence-led way".

Another recommendation was that the option of drivers caught with a breath alcohol reading of between 40 and 50 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath to ask for a blood sample to be taken "should be abandoned".

Sentencing guidelines should also be amended so magistrates could "routinely consider" permanent driving bans for persistent drink-drive offenders and producing the equivalent of a breathalyser to detect drug-driving should be attempted.

Sir Peter said the public was ready for a lower limit and he was clear the 12-month ban should be maintained.

He said the public would probably not support a zero limit but the vast majority of drivers who abided by the current limit would be happy to stay within a lower, 50mg limit.

Sir Peter said the drinks industry supported the lower limit and the hospitality industry, including pubs and hotels, should look to reducing the high cost of soft drinks.

He said he doubted whether there would be a zero blood-alcohol limit in 10 years' time, but admitted that a lowering to 50mg "may be a precursor to a lower limit down to 20mg".

Motoring, road safety and medical groups generally welcomed Sir Peter's recommendations, while the police said the report would be "well received by front-line roads policing officers".

The AA said it was particularly delighted that the issue of drug-driving was being tackled, while the RAC said a lowering of the drink-drive limit was "long overdue".

In West Yorkshire, a total of 2,269 people were charged with drink-driving in the 2009-10 financial year.

The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence produced its own report yesterday giving the 168-lives-a-year-saved figure quoted by Sir Peter.

The institute's public health excellence director Prof Mike Kelly said the lowering of the limit would "not only have a positive impact on those who regularly drink well above the current limit before driving, but also has the potential to make everyone think twice about having a drink before they decide to drive somewhere".