New drink-drive limits could come in - do you know the legal limit? Four in five don't

Four in five adults don’t know the legal drink-drive limits, research has found, as new road safety laws could be brought in that lower the limit in England and Wales.

A quarter of adults wrongly think the legal drink driving limits are measured by the quantity of drinks consumed, allowing men to consume two standard (175ml) glasses of wine, and women to consume one, research from Direct Line Motor Insurance show.

The actual drink-drive limit is based on the micograms per 100 millilitres of breath, blood and urine: In England, Wales and Northern Ireland this is set at 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath, 80 microfgrams per 100 millilitres of blood and 107 micrograms per 100 millilitres of urine.

Despite 82 per cent of people not being able to correctly identify these legal limits, half say they do understand the drink-drive limit.

To tackle drink-driving issues Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is reportedly bringing in new rules which will see the drink-drive limit in England and Wales reduced to come in line with Scotland, making it much more stringent.

The drink-drive blood alcohol limit is currently 0.05 per cent in Scotland, compared to 0.08 per cent in England and Wales, but this could soon change amid concern about the number of people being killed or seriously injured on UK roads.

Amid Direct Line’s nationwide June study of 2,000 adults to access public understanding of the legal drink-drive limits across England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, as well as attitudes and behaviours around drink driving, concerning overconfidence and misinformation was revealed.

One in four drivers said they would still feel safe to drive even after four or more drinks and a third said they know how their body reacts to alcohol and trust their own limits.

And a third of people believe that drinking soft drinks or water alongside alcohol changes how the body metabolises alcohol and therefore helps to lessen the effect of alcohol on your body.

These are incorrect.

One in five of those who have driven after drinking alcohol said they got behind the wheel because several hours had passed since their last alcoholic drink, while a quarter said they thought they would be fine to drive as they had switched to soft drinks.

Fourteen per cent felt they were safe to drive after two or more drinks, because they had also eaten a meal alongside drinking.

Read More

But it was the results of a breathalyser test of 97 people that proved the most worrying.

Of those that took part, 27 per cent expected to still be under the legal limits, but when tested, two fifths measured on or above it.

None of the 97 participants could accurately articulate the current legal limits for drink driving, yet nearly four in ten said they would rely on their own judgement and how they felt before deciding whether they were safe to drive or not.

The results highlight just how unreliable personal judgement is. Nearly half of those tested who got a negative reading said that they did not feel safe to drive but 14 per cent of people who did register above the legal limits said they still felt safe to get behind the wheel.

Commenting on the findings Matt Pernet, Head of Direct Line Motor Insurance, said: ‘Relying on personal judgement, previous experiences, or myths, like drinking water or eating a meal will lessen the effects of alcohol, presents a significant risk to all drivers.

‘Alcohol affects everyone differently and there is no reliable way to judge if you are legal to drive other than taking a breathalyser test.’

It comes after the number of fatalities in drink-drive collisions reached its highest level for more than a decade, figures released last year show.

Official estimates released by the Department for Transport (DfT) found that in 2022 there were 300 deaths in Great Britain where at least one driver was over the limit - the highest since 2009 when there were 380 deaths. Drink-drive fatalities made up 18 per cent of all road deaths in 2022.

However fatalities are significantly down on historical highs and the number of drink-driving casualties of all severities has ‘steadily decreased’ over the past decade.

The Labour Government is wanting to bring causalities down even further with the proposed new drink-drive rules.

Lower drink-drive limits

As we’ve touched on, the drink-drive limit in England and Wales is reported to be cut from 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath to 22 micrograms.

This would bring it in line with Scotland, which cut its drink-drive limit in 2014, and the rest of Europe – currently England and Wales have the highest limit In Europe.

Because people react to alcohol in different ways this lower threshold could mean that just one drink puts someone over the limit.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams doesn't believe this goes far enough, saying: ‘Data for Scotland suggests merely reducing the legal drink-drive limit isn’t enough.

‘A significant number of drink-drive offences are committed by reoffenders, so tackling the risk associated with habitual drink-drivers is crucial.’

Drug driving crackdown with roadside tests used as evidence

Other proposals are reported to include allowing the police to bring prosecutions for drug-driving on the basis of roadside saliva tests, rather than blood tests, as increasing numbers of drivers are being caught with drugs in their system.

Mandatory eye tests for over 70s

There are plans to introduce compulsory eye tests for motorists over 70, with drivers this age and above subject to screenings every three years and face being banned from the roads if they fail.

There’s been significant campaigning on this matter in recent years; an inquest into four deaths caused by drivers with failing eyesight in April led to Lancashire's senior coroner Dr James Adeley calling on ministers to take action because the current enforcement system is 'unsafe'.

Bigger punishment for drivers and passengers not wearing seatbelts

At present people can be fined up to £500 for not wearing a seatbelt, but ministers are said to be looking at harsher punishments.

Passengers with a driving licence not wearing a seatbelt could get two points but this could also increase under the new proposal.

Fatal road traffic accidents because people were not wearing a seatbelt has risen from 21 per cent in 2014 to 25 per cent in 2023, or 40 per cent for backseat passengers