In December 2014, new legislation came into force in Scotland reducing the drink drive limit from 0.8g/l to 0.5g/l. The rest of the UK and Malta are the last remaining regions in the EU to apply a weaker 0.8 limit, all others enforce 0.5g/l or lower. The legal changes in Scotland followed a public consultation in September 2012 which found that 74% of respondents supported the move to lower limits, with 87% of those supporting a move to 0.5g/l. The approval of the Scotland Act in 2012 by the UK government gave the Scottish parliament the power to set a separate drink driving limit for Scotland. The Scottish government is calling for the UK government to reduce the drink-drive limit in England and Wales and also plans to give more powers to the police to carry out breath testing anytime, anywhere. Legal changes in Northern Ireland to bring about a 0.5g/l or lower limit are currently working their way through the legislative process and could be approved by the end of 2016. It has been calculated that reducing the limit in England and Wales would avoid about 25 deaths and 95 serious injuries every year.” (Reference http://www.pacts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/Richard-Allsop-Drink…) This briefing gives an overview of the new Scottish drink driving laws and includes an interview with Patrick Down, a policy specialist from the Scottish Government. (Author/publisher)
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