Drink drive limit to stay the same in the UK

Since the UK joined the EU, it has been under enormous pressure to change their laws so that they are in line with the other European states. The latest law to be questioned was the drink driving limit, currently you are allowed to drive if you have 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. But in much of the continent and all of Europe the limit is 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

How much can I drink and still drive legally?

This has been debatable for some time as there are other factors to take into consideration such as weight, metabolism and whether you have eaten or not. So a man of average build could drink up to two pints of beer or three small glasses of wine before he is considered too drunk to drive. For a women it is always slightly less than the average man.

Some MP’s have called for the reduction to be just 20mg of alcohol which is basically a limit of zero. The Government decided to keep the limit as it is now and not bow down to the pressure of reducing it. Many believe this is because of complaints from pubs and clubs that fear that they will lose even more customers as they will not even go out if they cant enjoy a drink or two without falling foul of the police. Since the recession, pubs have been the most affected with hundreds going out of business on a weekly basis, by reducing the amount customers are allowed to drink before driving back home, even more pubs will be forced to close or even lose even more clients.

Even if the proposed limit of 50mg was introduced, most men would be over the limit after just one pint of beer or a glass of wine, women on the other hand would be banned after having just half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine. Most people would stop going out on a regular basis if they couldn’t have a few drinks with their meal so restaurants that serve alcohol could also be affected.

As many people are opposed to the lowering of alcohol limit, the government has decided to crack down on drug driving instead as it is harder to detect as a urine sample or blood sample is needed for testing instead of the traditional breath testing for alcohol.