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Nurses call for zero-alcohol driving policy

29/04/2010

Nurses have spoken out in favour of a complete ban on alcohol before driving, in a bid to cut the number of drink-drive deaths on Britain's roads.

Speaking at the congress of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), vice-chairman Rod Thomson said that "people find messages confusing - they think one glass of wine is a unit and that it is OK to drive after two or three," according to the Daily Mail.

"Telling people that they could not drink at all before getting behind the wheel would make the message much clearer," he added.

Delegates at the conference in Bournemouth spoke in favour of a "no ifs, no buts, no alcohol" suggestion, the Guardian says. If implemented, such a policy would mean that even a single small glass of wine, or half a pint of beer, would render a driver over the legal limit, and would bring the UK into line with European countries such as Estonia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which already operate a zero-alcohol system.

However, some delegates pointed out that an absolute policy on alcohol could see people unwittingly falling foul of the small alcoholic content that is found in products such as mouthwash, or trifle.

The debate comes against the backdrop of the most recent figures, which show a 5% rise in the number of deaths from drink-driving accidents - which rose from 410 in 2007, to 430 in 2008.

The current legal drink-drive limit is 80 milligrams (mg) of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood - one of the highest in Europe. In practice, this means that a man of average build may be able to drink around one-and-a-half pints of normal strength beer - or up to three small glasses of wine - and remain within the limit. However, the uptake and affect of alcohol can be compounded by other factors such as an empty stomach or medicine use, making it hard to judge a 'safe' intake.

Last month, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis admitted that the limit could be cut. A reduction would be likely to see the limit reduced to 50mg, according to suggestions, broadly equivalent to just under a pint of beer.

The ongoing North Review of Drink and Drug Driving has reported its initial conclusions to Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, but the full report "covering the considerable weight of evidence" is still being drawn up.

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