New driving law could ban alcohol altogether as fatalities hit 13-year high

Due to the high figures, it has prompted the British Medical Association to consider whether a default ban on any alcohol in a driver's system should be implemented.

Under current regulations, drivers can have a maximum level of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in their system if they are to get behind the wheel.

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If someone is found to be in charge of a vehicle while above the legal limit, they could face three-monthimprisonment and a fine of up to £2,500 or apossible driving ban in more serious cases.

The BMA called for a further reduction in the legal limit to 20mg/100ml for new and commercial drivers, to help deter them from drinking at all.

A recent report by the AA found that despite being able to have a drink and still drive, many motorists are choosing to avoid alcohol altogether.

The data found that 80 per cent of drivers would take a zero per cent alcohol drink instead if they were driving.

Meanwhile, one in seven drivers has expressed their willingness to try numerous low-alcohol options available.

Rod Dennis, RAC road safety spokesperson, commented on the DfT figures: “While the number of people killed by drink drivers is still thankfully far lower now compared to the final decades of the 20th century, the fact we’re back to a similar rate of fatalities caused by people drinking and driving as we were in the late 1980s is abhorrent."

The DfT data shockingly highlighted how one in 10 deaths on UK roads were caused when the driver or rider were impaired by alcohol.

Edmund King, AA president, warned drivers that for some drivers, drinking alcohol and getting behind the wheel is “far too easy”.

Notably the DfT report found that since 2010, the proportion of drink-driving collisions has been higher in Wales than in England or Scotland.

Looking at the stats demographically, in 2022, 68 per cent of casualties in drink-drive collisions were male while drivers aged between 25 and 59 were the most likely to be involved in a drink-driving incident.

King added: “Sadly, the road safety stats show that this action can have tragic and catastrophic consequences.

“Those getting behind the wheel can now feel closer to an event with the wide range of non-alcoholic drinks but are safe in the knowledge that they can safely drive home.”

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The DfT defines a drink-driving collision as when a driver fails a roadside breath test by registering above 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath in England and Wales or 22 micrograms in Scotland.

It also occurs when a driver refuses to give a breath test specimen when requested by the police.