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Scots drink-drive limit threat to cross border business drivers

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Drink drive limits vary greatly - don't get caught out!

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5 November 2014

Man putting down beer and picking up car keys
The Scottish Parliament are considering cutting the drink drive limit – don’t get caught out!

SME fleet operators running business vehicles regularly crossing the Scottish border could soon be placing their drivers at risk of a drink-drive ban.

The Scottish Parliament is considering new laws to cut the UK limit for motorists of 80mg in every 100ml of blood to just 50mg.

This effectively halves a male’s ‘safe’ consumption of alcohol, where one pint of strong beer could push the driver’s blood alcohol level over the limit and pose a real risk for company car drivers used to a culture of ‘entertaining’ business contacts.

The risks are also increased for the morning after, where larger quantities of drinks consumed the previous evening, will still be in the blood stream the following day.

Scotland’s Justice Committee has just recommended that Parliament approve the measures by 5 December to be in place for the Christmas/New Year festive period.

Welcoming the move, Diarmuid Fahy, Manager, Fleet Risk Services, Alphabet, told Business Car Manager: “It’s great to see the Scottish government taking action to curb drink-driving by cutting the blood alcohol limit from 80mg to 50mg in every 100ml of blood.”

He said that if these plans are approved by the Scottish Parliament, drivers will need to be aware of the following points when driving in Scotland:

  1. Whereas it was unlikely that one pint of beer or a glass of wine would have put a driver over the old drink-driving limit, drivers will now be likely to go over the limit with a single drink.
  2. There will be an odd situation where a driver will be legal to drive on the English side of the border but illegal when driving in Scotland.
  3. There will be a greater chance of drivers being over the limit on the day after drinking.
  4. This, combined with the plans in Northern Ireland to follow suit, makes it more likely that a 50mg limit will be adopted across the UK in the future.
  5. All of the above points leads to an increased chance of drivers being banned.

Fahy added: “Fleet managers will need to act on this if plans are approved, because you cannot run the risk of having banned drivers at the wheel of your vehicles.

“This offers a great opportunity to remind drivers of the risks associated with alcohol, ahead of the Christmas party season, including the risk of losing your job or even causing a fatality.

“Licence checks will become more important than ever due to the increased likelihood of people having a single drink at the pub and getting caught out with a breathalyser on the way home.”

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