Drink-driving rate falls as ‘none for the road’ limit kicks in at Christmas

THE number of people caught drink-driving over the festive period plunged by nearly a fifth on the previous year after a stricter limit was introduced.

The drink-drive limit brought in on December 5 last year is 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, down from 80mg – the limit in the rest of the UK.

During a four-week festive drink-drive campaign, police caught 351 drivers who were over the limit, compared to 434 in the same period the previous year, a drop of 19 per cent. Those caught now face losing their driving licences, a minimum 20-year criminal record and a fine.

Of the people apprehended drink-driving, 20 were detected between the new 50mg limit and the previous limit of 80mg.

Twenty-seven offenders were detected between 6am and 10am, six of whom were between the old and new limits.

Police detected one drink-driver for every 50 tests carried out, compared to one drink-driver for every 47 tests carried out in the previous campaign.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: ‘These latest statistics are testament to the immediate effect that the new lower limit has helped to make our roads safer. Scot- land is leading the way across the UK with the introduction of a lower drink-drive limit.’

During the campaign, which ran between December 8 and January 5, police tested 17,504 drivers for alcohol – an average of 625 drivers each day.

Neil Greig, director of policy and research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: ‘The vast majority of drivers have got the “none for the road” message, but what the figures do show is that a hard core continue to ignore any limit. Police must now redouble their efforts to identify and catch those selfish drivers who put everyone at risk through excessive drinking.’