Scotland to take action against drink drivers

The Scottish Government in calling for a big increase in action against drink and drug drivers, with the aim of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured in crashes on the country’s roads. Speaking ahead of the TISPOL (European Traffic Police) annual conference, which begins today (October 2) in Edinburgh, Scottish Transport Minister, Keith Brown, said, “Tragically, latest figures estimate that on average there are 30 fatalities on Scotland’s roads each year related to drink driving. That’s why we are proposing action to make our roads safer, by reducing the drink driving limit to a level that would bring Scotland into line with most of the rest of Europe. It is only now, with recently secured Scotland Act 2012 powers, that the Scottish Government is able to set the drink driving limit in Scotland. We will continue to press the UK Government for a more extensive devolution of powers over drink driving, including legislation to enable the police to conduct breath tests any time, anywhere. The consequences of drug driving can be equally devastating. We are currently working with the UK Government to consider a new drug driving offence.”

TISPOL president, Pasi Kemppainen, commented, “We welcome the Scottish Government’s consultation on proposals to lower the drink drive limit. We hope this will result in a decision to bring in a lower limit. We believe the long-term goal should be a low drink-drive limit that is the same across Europe, with an additional zero limit for novice and professional drivers. As we work towards that, we must ensure we pursue other measures, including alcohol interlocks, campaigns and education, to support our vital enforcement work.” Kemppainen said he was committed to finding initiatives that would help to reduce the unacceptable death toll. “Statistics show that alcohol-impaired road users are still involved in around 25% of the 30,000 annual road deaths in Europe. Additionally, it is believed that around 2% of all road journeys in Europe are made by drivers with an illegal level of blood alcohol content,” he noted. “The situation with drug driving is less clear but equally serious, and it is believed that drugs are a factor in a further 25% of fatal crashes. Better awareness-raising and more widespread, robust enforcement can make a difference in reducing the casualties.”

2 October 2012