13. 0% drink driving (resolution)

Cambridgeshire Branch

That this meeting of RCN Congress urges Council to lobby for legislation which reduces to zero the permissible level of alcohol intake before driving.

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Progress report

Council Committee: NPPC
Committee decision: Covered by existing work
Council member/other member/stakeholder involvement: Gaynor Jones
Staff contact: jan.maw@rcn.org.uk , alexandra.callaghan@rcn.org.uk

This work has been referred to Council, who received a background paper from NPPC in October. Council agreed to support NPPC’s recommendation, and moved the RCN’s position to a limit of 50mg blood alcohol content (BAC). 

Debate report

As statistics show an increasing number of deaths or serious injuries related to drink-driving incidents, Carol Evans from the Cambridgeshire branch urged members to consider the need to change the law to reduce the permissible level of alcohol intake before driving to zero. She highlighted the public’s confusion surrounding the number of units currently allowed but noted that most people choose their drink not based on units but rather on colour, price and taste.

The resolution was seconded by Andy Frazer from the RCN Emergency Care Association who told members that in his work he had seen the results of many drink driving incidents. “You wouldn’t drink two pints of beer before going to work?” he asked Congress delegates, “a car is potentially a lethal weapon,” he warned.

Linda Bailey asked Congress delegates to consider this to be part of an overarching strategy; and advised this is the approach taken by the BMA.  A number of members approached the microphone to support the resolution but David Brown warned that zero was unrealistic – “trifle or mouthwash can put you over the limit,“ he warned.

John Hill told delegates that after 25 years working in accident and emergency, he had seen more people breathalysed ‘than most people had hot dinners’. He said it was time to get rid of the confusion. “No ifs, no buts, no alcohol,” he said.

A procedural item was introduced as Pat Botrill advised that more information was needed. Congress voted to send the item directly to Council for further consideration, rather than vote on it there and then.

Background

Each year 3,000 people are killed or seriously injured in incidents involving drink driving. Indeed drink-drive deaths account for one in six of all UK road deaths. Despite this, the permitted alcohol limit in the UK remains higher than in eleven other EU countries.

Surveys of the general public reveal widespread confusion about what constitutes a measure of alcohol. Studies show that even a small amount of alcohol results in slower reactions, longer stopping distances, a reduced field of vision and poorer judgement of speed and distance in drivers. Furthermore, drivers are more likely to take risks and believe – mistakenly – that they are in control. An estimated 80 road deaths a year are caused by drivers who are under the current drink-drive limit.

In 1998, the UK government issued a consultation paper proposing the reduction of the UK legal limit from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml of blood. After lengthy deliberations it was announced in March 2002 that the UK's 80mg drink-driving limit was to be retained. In February 2009 the Scottish Justice Secretary wrote to the UK Transport Secretary requesting the UK driving limit be reduced to 50mg and calling for the power to reduce the limit be transferred to Scotland. In Northern Ireland the Department of Environment is considering a recent consultation paper on proposals to reduce the limit to 50mg and introduce a lower limit of 20mg for newly-qualified and professional drivers.

In December 2009 the Department of Transport announced it is to commission an independent study on the need for changes to the current alcohol limit for driving. The study will also look at revising penalties and the need for new legislation related to drink driving.

Indications suggest a growing consensus for a zero alcohol limit for driving – and that the only way for drivers to be safe is to not drink anything at all before driving.

The RCN has serious concerns about the impact of alcohol misuse on public health, and has been calling for political parties and governments across the UK’s four nations to recognise the magnitude of the UK’s alcohol related problems and take action. The RCN has also been lobbying for the introduction of a mandatory code for the alcohol industry which would include measures to control the promotion and sale of alcohol and to label alcohol with health warnings and unit information.

References and further reading
Brake (2010) Drink-driving, Huddersfield: Brake.
www.brake.org.uk/facts/drink-driving