How effective is the lower alcohol limit for novice drivers?

Answer

International research shows that lowering the alcohol limit for novice drivers results in less driving under the influence and in fewer crashes. Dutch data, however, do not show such positive effects. After the introduction of the reduced alcohol limit for young drivers in the Netherlands (January 2006), their alcohol use did not decrease more strongly than alcohol use among older drivers [53]. Nor was there a decline in the number of alcohol-related road casualties among young people in the first two years after the introduction of the reduced limit [54].

International

Different reviews of mostly American and Australian studies conclude that lowering the alcohol limit for young drivers (mostly to 0 or to 0.2‰) results in less drink driving and fewer alcohol- related crashes [55] [56] [57] [58].

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the legal alcohol limit for novice drivers was lowered to 0.2‰ in January 2006. The lower limit was not only expected to reduce alcohol consumption by young drivers, but also to reduce combined use of alcohol and drugs. The latter mainly occurs among young men and goes hand in hand with a very high crash risk (see the question What are the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol?). Data on alcohol use by young road users in a four-year period before and after the introduction of the lower limit (20002-2010) show that their alcohol use did not decrease more strongly than that of older drivers [53]. Whether the measures reduced combined alcohol and drug use by road users is unknown.

Weijermars & Van Schagen [54] also conclude that there is no evidence that the measure had a road safety effect in the first years after its introduction. They find that the proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds among the number of fatal and severely injured alcohol-related casualties did not decline in the two years after introduction of the reduced limit: in 2004/2005, on average 24.6% of the alcohol-related casualties were in the age group 18-24, in 2006/2007 the average was 24.8%, and 28.4% in 2008. For novice drivers, the relatively slight chance of being apprehended possibly causes the lack of an effect.

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Driving under the influence of alcohol

 During the most recent measurements, in 2022, 2.6% of the Dutch drivers were under the influence of alcohol during weekend nights, which amounts to Meer

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