Meeting of the Parliament 18 November 2014
Reducing the drink-drive limit is important, and I fully agree with the motion and the Labour Party’s amendment.
The UK currently has the highest drink-drive alcohol limit in the European Union at 80mg per 100ml of blood. There is clear evidence that a reduction to 50mg per 100ml will reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries that are caused by drink driving. Estimates of how many lives can be saved with a lower limit vary, but there is evidence that between three and 17 lives could be saved per annum on Scottish roads.
The risk of getting into a crash significantly rises once blood alcohol levels go above 50mg in every 100ml of blood. Along with the strong evidence base for reducing the drink-drive limit on 5 December, there is widespread support from external organisations such as the British Medical Association and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. They are professionals who deal daily with our ailments in our health service and who deal with accidents.
The Government needs to ensure that the proposals are fully resourced so that Police Scotland has the support that it needs to implement the policy. That should include resources to educate drivers about the changes in the law. The cabinet secretary has set out clearly how he will ensure that the message gets through, but he should be aware that people in a lot communities, particularly youngsters, could benefit from such education and advice.
Personally, I am in favour of reducing the drink-drive limit to a much lower level. I realise that a zero level could cause problems, as certain food, medication and perhaps even mouthwashes can have an impact on breath tests. However, I feel that, in future, reducing the limit to a nominal level such as 0.5mg per 100ml would get rid of a lot of confusion about how much one can drink before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. The important fact is that loss of life or limb and disruption to family life are far too high a price for us to pay, so we should secure such levels. It is pure madness to allow people in our society to continue to put at risk not only themselves but many others.
As a councillor, I have seen first hand the hardship that families have to go through either because someone’s conviction for drink driving results in loss of employment or loss of other amenities or because victims have been injured, through no fault of their own, and the families have had to pick up the pieces. Sometimes we underestimate the value that we lose when someone is injured or has lost their life because of drink driving.
I am also keen for the cabinet secretary to look at the issue of all the people who use machinery, such as divers, pilots, drivers and train drivers—we need to look at them as well, not simply car drivers. I hope that the cabinet secretary will take that message on board and I look forward to his future proposals.
16:26