CMO calls for zero blood alcohol limit for young drivers

The Chief Medical Officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, called this week for the drink-drive limit on under 20s to be zero.

He made the zero limit the central proposal of his annual report, which focused this year on the health of teenagers. His proposal ran straight into controversy, with the RAC suggesting a zero limit would be unworkable, and others calling for a lower drink-driving limit for everyone, rather than an alcohol ban solely for young people. Donaldson said 14 European countries already had what is effectively a zero limit for young or novice drivers: they permit a trace in the bloodstream in case the driver has used mouthwash or some other innocuous substance containing alcohol.

Other countries with lower drinking limits for young people include some states in Australia, most of the US and New Zealand. In Ontario, Canada, Donaldson said, there was a 19% reduction in crashes in which the driver was aged 16 to 19 when a zero limit for new drivers was introduced in 1995.

Justifying his call for zero alcohol for 17 to 20-year-olds, Donaldson said they were six times more likely to have a car crash if they had been drinking. A young person who had been drinking was 2.5 times more likely to have a crash than an older person who had been drinking. "I'm aware it is a controversial recommendation, but I believe it would save lives," he said. Guardian