Bedford Driving Lessons

Ministers have been urged to cut the drink-drive limit by nearly half in a government-commissioned report. Sir Peter North’s review said reducing the limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg would save hundreds of lives. He also recommends that the current mandatory 12-month driving ban should be maintained for the new 50mg limit. The review was commissioned by Labour and it is not certain that the new government will adopt its findings. Sir Peter, a leading academic and legal expert, makes a total of 51 recommendations in his report. These include making it easier for police to identify and prosecute drug-drivers by allowing nurses, as well as doctors, to authorise blood tests of suspects. Based on new research by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Sir Peter said that as many as 168 lives – about 7% of UK road deaths – could be saved by a reduced drink-drive limit in the first year. This could rise to as many as 303 lives by the sixth year, he said. Sir Peter said: “Research conclusively shows the much higher risk posed by drink-driving. “With a blood alcohol level between my proposed new limit of 50mg per 100ml and the current 80mg per 100ml limit, a driver has a six times greater risk of road death than a non-drinking driver. More