Safe level is zero

Press, 9 January 1986, Page 19

Safe level is zero

If Britain’s police chiefs have their way, it will be an offence to drive a car after even one drink. Current trends have forced the British Association of Chief Police Officers to the conclusion that the only long-term solution to the drink-drive problem is to have the alcohol level so low as to amount to zero when driving.

The chairman of the traffic committee of the association, Roger Birch, speaking at the conference organised by the Institute of Alcohol Studies, outlined the association’s thinking. “One of the reasons my association favours a move to zero drink and drive is because the whole aspect of

how much or how little it is possible for an individual to drink and remain safe in charge of a motor vehicle is a minefield of complication, contradiction and doubt,” said Mr Birch. “The evidence of the Transport and Road Research Laboratory indicates that the consumption of even relatively small amounts of alcohol leads to impairment, but the difficulty is producing a reliable formula that applies to Mr Average. “There are so many variables in the equation that it is virtually impossible to define a readily understood translation of the 80 milligrammes per 100 millilitres limit,” he said.