Should the permitted level of blood alcohol for drivers be lowered?
MANY MEMBERS of Parents Against Road Carnage have lost their loved ones in crashes where alcohol was involved. It's time that the people with vested interests in keeping the alcohol limit at 80mg blood alcohol content (BAC) were made aware of the pain that grieving families will have to endure for the rest of their lives because of drink drivers.
These families' lives have been ripped apart. Our loved ones could be here with us today if it wasn't for the behaviour of others who decided to have a "few drinks" and then get behind the wheel and drive.
There's no getting over that - no matter how you try. Your life is ruined forever. We ask the question - "Are a 'few drinks' worth the risk of being involved in a crash causing death or serious injury?" Could a driver who has been involved in a crash resulting in the death of another seriously believe that they could reassure the grieving family that because they only had a "few drinks", alcohol played "no part" in the collision? Try telling that to the children left without a dad or to the wife left without her loving husband.
Only Ireland, the UK and Malta have an 80mg limit. All other 24 European Union countries have a limit of 50mg or less.
Road crash statistics for 2003 are at best an underestimate of how many crashes were alcohol-related, mainly because tests on killed drivers were not available in 25 per cent of cases, and the vast majority of drivers who survived were not tested. If more had been tested, the rates would have been higher. Nevertheless, 14 drivers killed in 2003 were below 80mgs.
Research conducted by the Canadian Traffic Injury Research Foundation found that drivers with blood alcohol levels between 50mg and 80mg were more than seven times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than drivers with zero alcohol. The scientific evidence from the USA is overwhelming - "crash rates increase with any departure from zero BAC". With blood alcohol levels of 50mg, there is a 38 per cent increased risk of collision, while at 80mg, the current permitted maximum, this increases to 200 per cent.
Above the limit of 20mg, there is impairment of driving. Probably the greatest danger of that first drink is that it impairs our ability to assess our own competence to drive.
Drivers' reaction times and motor skills deteriorate after even a small amount of alcohol but, after one drink, you may not feel intoxicated and may believe you can drive safely. This is due to your brain's impaired cognitive processing ability at low blood alcohol levels.
There is evidence to show that reducing the limit from 80mg to 50mg can have an effect on drivers with very high BACs. In the Australian Capital Territory, studies found that there was a 41 per cent reduction in the incidence of drivers tested with BACs above 150mg. France also found a pronounced effect for drivers at higher BACs (over 80mg) when the limit was reduced to 50mg.
The vintners are concerned about their livelihoods, but surely they must also have concern for the many innocent people dying, or being seriously injured on our roads, due to drink driving. We must have creative approaches to the problem of rural isolation, but drink driving is not one of them.
In fact, the need to have a designated driver could mean that there is more social contact between people than heretofore. People will be forced to make contact with neighbours to arrange lifts from the designated driver. Many rural pubs are already providing transport for patrons.
There are many men and women now widowed as a result of drink driving and many homes where there is the isolation of loneliness and heartache, but we do not hear the vintners' concern for these people and their families. There are many others left with horrific injuries for the rest of their lives and often forgotten.
When we say, "never, ever drink and drive" that must be reflected in the new drink-driving limit. People need a clear message from the Government on drinking and driving. If they are told that they are permitted to have one drink and then get behind the wheel of a car and drive, then a very dangerous message is being sent out.
Given our drink-driving performance, our frightening road death toll and our inability to control our urge to drive after drinking, we urge the Minister for Transport and our Government to send out a clear message to the public. The best deterrent would be that drinking and driving is totally unacceptable.
If they are influenced by the drink industry who have such a vested interest in keeping the limit at 80mg, then many more innocent victims will needlessly die on our roads and many more will be seriously injured for life.
Susan Gray's husband Stephen was killed in a road accident in 2004. She is founder and chairwoman of Parents Against Road Carnage
