Survey finds huge support for lowering drink limit

THERE IS overwhelming public support for a sharp reduction in the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers, according to a campaign group which said it conducted a national survey on the issue.

Susan Gray, chairwoman of the road safety group Parc, which carried out the survey of more than 3,000 people, said the results demonstrated a growing attitude that the current drink-driving limits were too high, as only 1 per cent of respondents supported them.

Some 99 per cent said they wanted the current limit of 80mg limit per 100 millilitres of blood or urine reduced, with 70 per cent in favour of a level of 20mg or less.

Just 16 per cent supported a reduction to 50mg, which is the level proposed by an expert group set up by the Road Safety Authority to examine the issue.

Ms Gray said it was encouraging to see such high levels of support for tighter restrictions on alcohol, particularly among younger age groups. "Over half of respondents aged between 17 and 34 believe that the blood alcohol limit should be effectively zero.

"This is a step in the right direction . . . and signals a positive change in the attitudes of Irish people to drink driving."

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey will shortly receive a formal recommendation from the Road Safety Authority that the State should reduce the limit to 50mg, a level shared with most other European countries.

The Road Safety Strategy (2007-2012) requires that the limit be reduced by June 2009, although it does not specify a level.

A second proposal from the expert group - to introduce a separate lower limit of 20mg for learner or professional drivers - has been dropped pending further investigation. About 14 per cent of those surveyed by Parc supported a lower limit for learner drivers.

Ms Gray said it was important that a lower limit be "introduced into law and enforced without any further delay". She added that the survey had revealed widespread confusion both about the current limits and the message coming from road safety agencies.

"We carried out the survey, which was supported by Alcohol Action Ireland, because we wanted to see what the people believed the limit should be and we also wanted to find out if they understood the current drink limits.

"Very few people knew what the current limit was or what it meant in terms of how much they could drink. There was also a lot of confusion about conflicting road safety messages saving 'never drink and drive' when the legal limit allows you to have a couple of drinks, depending on your metabolism," Ms Gray said.