The majority of the British public would advocate dropping the drink driving limit from its current level, and a significant minority would drop it to zero.
- 22% of Brits felt that the limit should be lowered, curtailing drivers’ drinking allowance without prohibiting it completely
- And 34% felt that a no tolerance policy that would drop the limit to zero was more suitable, meaning that a full 56% of Brits want the limit to be lower than it currently is
- 35% feel that the drink drive level should remain as it is
- And just 6% thought that the limit should be raised
How does the UK compare to rest of Europe?
Currently, the UK drink driving limit is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, which is often described as around two pints of beer. However, the amount needed to push someone over the limit depends on the person’s size, gender and the speed with which they absorb alcohol.
The UK currently has a relatively high drink drive limit compared to most other European nations. At 0.8 milligrams per millilitre, the limit is much higher than that of countries like Norway, Poland, Sweden (0.2mg per ml), Belgium and Denmark (0.5mg). Even countries stereotypically famous for their drinking habits and/or apparently relaxed driving laws have lower legal limits, with Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Portugal at 0.5mg per ml. In Germany, this number is lowered further to 0.3mg if you already have another traffic offence.
In Malta, Estonia and the Czech Republic, among other nations, the limit is zero.
