UK Govt To Look Into Drink Driving Laws As Road Deaths Rise

This month, Heidi Alexander said it “might be time to have a look at those (laws)”, referring to drink driving regulations as road deaths rose in UK.

It comes at a time when Christmas typically sees twice the number of breathlyser tests.

In December last year, in England and Wales, there were almost 50,000 breathlyser tests done compared to the monthly average of 20,000. The breathlyser limit in England, Wales and Ireland is 35 micrograms per 100mls with Scotland opting for a lower limit of 23 micrograms per 100mls.

Each day a whopping 170+ people are convicted for drink driving in UK with penalties ranging from a ban to life imprisonment. Despite these measures, a significant number of those guilty are re-offenders suggesting that imposing simple drink driving limits is not enough. We beleive that rehabilitation remains key to the problem. Certainly in our experience of undertaking DVLA HRO medicals for 20+ years, the Drink Driving Rehabilitation Courses (DDRS) offered by DVSA-approved providers, appear to make a bigger impact. The courses are an 'eye-opener' for many who subsequently attend their medicals with most unaware of facts that have altered their drinking behaviours.

2025 will see us support DDRS providers by working alongside them to make our roads more safe.