Alcohol Policy UK

News & updates June 2011: Drink-Drive crackdown; pricing debate on BBC; Scotland licensing action

Drink Drive crackdown throughout June

Police officers will be out in force throughout June to detect drink and drug drivers across the country, reports the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). A similar 30 day scheme ran last year in which just under 101,000 people were stopped and tested, with 5.6% testing positive or refusing a test.

A DirectGov Drink Driving page contains facts and information including limits and penalties.

just under 101,000 people were stopped and tested during the 30-day summer campaign with 5.6 percent testing positive or refusing a test.

just under 101,000 people were stopped and tested during the 30-day summer campaign with 5.6 percent testing positive or refusing a test.

Minimum pricing posed to BBC Question Time panel

Following last week's news of alcohol-related hospital admissions passing the one million mark, the BBC Question Time panel were asked if it was time to follow Scotland's lead in seeeking a minimum price. See here for the video. Pricing and taxation measures appeared largely unsupported by the panel, with Conservative MP Louise Bagshawe suggesting pricing was a "restriction on civil liberties", but favoured consideration of a 21 minimum drinking age. Other panelists called upon the need for a "cultural shift", largely without suggesting how that might be achieved.

Trade and industry news

Trade leaders continue to speak out for tougher action on supermarkets criticising voluntary regulation as "not going to work", reports the Morning Advertiser (MA). Last week Health Secretary asked supermarkets to take further action, which one trade chief described as only the "tip of the iceberg".

The WSTA is launching a fraud prevention unit to crackdown on fraud in the wine and spirits sectors - see MA report. A  Tesco 'till-error' which led to a mistaken offer of three crates of beer for £11, rather than £20, caused congestion in Greenock after word of the deal got out - MA report. A new range of beer aimed at women is to be released as part of new drive of products from Molson Coors. The BII are holding seminars this month on the changes due to the Licensing Act.

Scotland

Local Authroities in Scotland could soon be taking measures to ban under 21s from purchasing alcohol from supermarket and off-licenses, reports The Herald. The powers can only be enforced on stores that have previously sold to under 18s, or where there is a local problem with teenage drinking. The Scottish Government are understood to have said authorities already have had the power to vary the conditions of a licence, including restricting sales by age, under 2005 legislation.

The Herald has also reported that the SNP are also considering banning alcohol sales from self-service tills due to links to underage sales.

Alcohol Focus Scotland is working to clarify and provide practical advice on the taking a public health approach in licensing. An expert group is being set up to support licensing boards after their understanding of the protection of public health licensing objective was found to be widely varied.

Drink-Drive limit to remain 80mg but enforcement to be upped

The legal drink-drive limit will remain at 80mg per 100ml of blood, the transport secretary Philip Hammond has announced. A Government press release said the focus would instead be on "improving enforcement and education to tackle the drink and drug drivers who put lives at risk." 

However the decision drew criticism after an independent report last year called for the legal limit to be reduced. In the report Sir Peter North proposed a reduced 50mg limit, arguing it would save hundreds of lives and bring the level in line with most of Europe. See BBC report.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said:

“The number of drink driving deaths has fallen by more than 75% since 1979. But drink driving still kills hundreds of people so we need to take tough action... after careful consideration we have concluded that improving enforcement is likely to have more impact on these dangerous people than lowering the limit.

See here for a new Think! road safety website, including facts and advice on drink-driving.

Further measures were outlined including:

• revoking the right to a blood test for people whose evidential breath test result is less than 40% over the limit
• introducing a "more robust" rehabilitation scheme requiring those caught well over the limit to take remedial training
• approving portable evidential breath-testing equipment for the police
• closing a loophole used by high-risk offenders to delay medical examinations,
• streamlining the procedure for testing drink-drivers in hospital.

See here for the the full Government response to the independent reports on drink and drug driving. See here for a BBC magazine article discussing the arguments for and against a total ban.

No cut in alcohol drink drive limit but call for tougher enforcement; 'Think' drink driving campaign 2010

The Transport Select Committee has not advised to cut the current drink-drive limit in its first report to the new parliament. Earlier this year a seperate report called for the drink-drive limit to be reduced from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg, as in most of Europe. However the committee suggested that a cut to "effectively zero" should be sought as a longer term aim, but advised such a 'drastic, immediate change in the law' would be too unpopular at present. 

The committee advised first for further alcohol awareness campaigns and enforcement of the existing level. Currently only 3% of drivers in the UK are stopped and tested compared to the European average of 16%. The committee attributed success of Great Britain’s current drink driving policy largely to the deterrent effect of the 12-month mandatory disqualification penalty. A fine of up to £5,000 and up to 6 months in prison can also be given - see here for drink-driving FAQs.

Launching the report, committee chair Louise Ellman said:

“We do believe enforcement of drink drive law in Great Britain must become much more visible, frequent, sustained and well-publicised.

We believe stronger enforcement must be coupled with an extensive Government education campaign—focused on the strength of alcoholic drinks and their effect in the body—run in conjunction with the pub, restaurant and hospitality industry.”

See reports from Sky news, the Morning Advertiser and the RAC.

The Think! drink driving campaign for 2010 has new materials and is also promoting a partnership scheme with Coca-Cola. The initiative will reward designated drivers with free Coca-Cola soft drinks during December in participating venues.

Report calls for lowering of drink-drive limit

A government commissioned report has called for the drink-drive limit to be reduced from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg. This would be expected to save 168 lives in the first year, about 7% of UK road deaths, and bring the limit in line with most European limits.

Sir Peter North who conducted the review suggested that a 50mg limit would still mean most drivers would be able to have a drink and be within the limit. North said there was support for a lower limit:

"Research conclusively shows the much higher risk posed by drink driving. With a blood alcohol level between my proposed new limit of 50mg/100ml and the current 80mg/100ml limit, a driver has a six times greater risk of road death than a non-drinking driver. The public is ready for a lower limit."

Some countries including Poland and Sweden have even lower limits of 20mg, whilst the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have total bans on drink-driving. A BBC magazine article discusses arguments for and against a total ban.

According to a Guardian article, the transport secretary Philip Hammond said he would "carefully consider" the report but would balance it against the possible damage to the drinks industry. See BBC report here or a NICE summary of the evidence here.

In response to the recommendations, Alcohol Concern's Don Shenker said: “Given its commitment “to taking tough action to tackle problem drinking” as underlined earlier this month by Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, we hope to see the Coalition Government implement these recommendations as soon as possible.” See Alcohol Concern's press release here.

Drinking limits debates re-opened: units and driving

Daily vs Weekly guidelines?

Members of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK have suggested that the current daily recommended guidelines for alcohol should be replaced by the old weekly guidelines. Dr Sheron argues that having daily guidelines infers that consumption on a daily basis does not pose a health risk. Dr Rachel Seabrook, of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, backed the concerns: "The Royal Colleges' recommendation for two days of abstinence a week has quietly disappeared. It was probably dropped to keep the message simple. But that is not a good move."  We highlighted this at Alcohol Policy UK in 2006.

However, whilst not evident alongside all units materials, the NHS Units website advises: 'You should also take a break for 48 hours after a heavy session to let your body recover'. It has also been suggested that the move away from weekly limits was because  people could interpret it as being acceptable to 'save up' units for one drinking session. But Dr Sheron also questioned the evidence for the new guidelines, as covered in this BBC report.

Drink-Drive limit too high?

Britain's leading traffic police officer has called for the drink drive limit to be reduced, warning that motorists were not safe to drive "on a couple of pints".  The Department for Transport recently invested £2 million in a study to evaluate whether there is evidence  that a significant number of accidents are taking place where the driver, although under the legal limit, had still consumed alcohol. 

Campaigners highlight that across most of the Europe the drink drive limit is 50 mg of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, as opposed to a higher limit of 80 mg in the UK. Evidence from research by University College London has also cited that lowering the limit would prevent 65 deaths and 230 injuries a year in Britain, as reported by The Telegraph. 

A Department for Transport spokesman said they are keeping an open mind on the legal limit, but also highlighted: “Thirty years of Government education campaigns and measures to improve enforcement have succeeded in making drink driving socially unacceptable and cutting the number of people killed in drink drive accidents each year by almost three quarters since 1979."

See here for information on the current 'THINK!' drink driving campaigns.

DfT consultation on drink driving ends 27th February

Those who want to see the drink drive limit reduced have until 27th February to respond to the Department of Transport's consultation on road safety compliance.  Last year the Chief Medical Officer called for a zero limit for under 20s, and the Scottish Parliament recently voted in support of a cut from 80 to 50mg  per 100ml of blood.  However, road safety minister Jim Fiztpatrick (left) has said he isn't keen on lowering the limit, preferring to enforce the existing one better.

From the executive summary of the consultation document:

"We believe that effective enforcement is the key to tackling drink driving. We will work to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the enforcement process, by developing targeted checkpoint enforcement and through the introduction of evidential breath-testing equipment. At the same time, we propose to make it easier for the police to enforce drink driving by seeking a legislative opportunity to remove the option for a blood or urine test, now rendered unnecessary by the proven reliability of the breath test, and look at ways to improve our High Risk Offenders scheme to ensure that these offenders complete medical examinations before they are allowed to start driving again."

"There have been calls for some years for a lower limit of 50 mg/100 ml, or less. We have said that we will keep the limit under review.  A change in the prescribed limit would be a significant change of strategy.  We want to have solid evidence on how many deaths and injuries could be avoided by a new limit, and we want to understand the wider social implications of a lower limit.  We are therefore asking respondents to say:

• what priority they think should be given to a change in the prescribed alcohol limit for driving
• what evidence they are able to offer – and what further evidence do they consider should be obtained – to support a fullyconsidered decision whether or not to change the limit."

"We are working to improve our evidence base. The current introduction of digital breath-testers will provide detailed, accurate and timely data on the characteristics of drink drivers. We will combine this with a new roadside survey of drinking and driving in 2009. This research will support future policy and publicity on drink driving."

Further reading

• Background on the government's thinking from Timesonline here.
• Institute of Alcohol Studies Factsheet Drinking and driving
• ACPO report of Christmas 2008 drink drive enforcement campaign here