Committee members will be aware that the Scottish Government has long argued that the Scottish Parliament should have powers to legislate on matters relating to drink driving in Scotland, and that the Scotland Act 2012 devolved the power to set the drink-drive limit. Although we consider that very limited transfer of power to have been a missed opportunity and believe that the Scottish Parliament should have the power to set the penalties for drink driving and to consider differential drink-driving limits—for example, for young and novice drivers—we welcome the fact that we now have that power to make Scotland’s roads safer through the setting of a lower limit.
In March 2013, following our late-2012 consultation in which the majority of respondents offered support for a lower limit, we confirmed our plans to lower the drink-drive limit in Scotland from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. Some considerable time has elapsed since we announced our policy and we have had to engage with the UK Government to provide what is called type approval of the evidential breath-testing devices that are used by Police Scotland, so that those devices are suitably recognised as being able to operate at the proposed lower limit.
Members will be aware that the current drink-drive limit has been in force since the mid-1960s. Although social attitudes towards drink drivers have hardened over the years, the sad truth is that there remains a persistent minority who put their own lives and the lives of other road users at risk by getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol. Figures show that about one in 10 deaths on Scotland’s roads each year involves a driver who is over the legal limit. That is 20 deaths each year, and 20 families devastated by the loss of a loved one.
Some people have said that our efforts should concentrate on enforcing the existing limit more strictly and that there is no need to reduce the drink-drive limit, but that ignores the scientific evidence that the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol start to increase at well below the current legal limit. Evidence from the British Medical Association shows that the risk of drivers with a reading of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood being involved in a road traffic crash is 10 times higher than the risk for drivers with a zero blood-alcohol reading. The crash risk for drivers with a reading of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood is more than twice the risk for drivers with a zero blood-alcohol reading. The independent review of drink-driving and drug-driving law, which was conducted by Sir Peter North in 2010, concluded that reducing the drink-driving limit from 80mg to 50mg will save lives. Applying his estimate to the Scottish population suggested that between three and 17 lives could be saved each year.
We consider that the current drink-driving limit has had its day. Reducing the limit to the lower level of 50mg to bring Scotland into line with most other European countries is the right approach, and will make Scotland’s roads safer.
To ensure that drivers are aware that the lower limit is coming into effect, the Scottish Government will run a public information campaign from 17 November. The campaign is aimed at informing all adults of driving age and will comprise advertising on television, video on demand and radio, and will include partnership and stakeholder engagement, field marketing, website updates, and use of social media and public relations. Television advertisements also will be aired on ITV Borders, which broadcasts to the south of Scotland and the north of England, to help to raise the awareness of drivers who live close to the border and who might travel into Scotland each working day.
Finally, I add that whatever the limit is, it should not be forgotten that alcohol at any level impairs driving. Our central message remains: “Don’t drink and drive.”
I am happy to take questions.