The 80mg limit was originally set at that level as it was the point that every person, no matter their sex, weight or drinking experience was affected by alcohol.

Some countries have lowered it to 50mg and some, like the Republic of Ireland, have 50mg, unless you are a newly qualified or professional driver, in which case it's 20mg.

I have always been very anti drink driving, but there seems to be a flaw in this change. Many people drink and drive because they know that, as long as they don't have an accident, there's very little chance of being stopped and breathalysed. I would prefer to see levels of road policing that actually stand a chance of enforcing the current limit (or a level of education that means enforcement is largely unnecessary) before moving to an equally poorly enforced and respected 50mg limit.

The idea of having a 20mg limit for new drivers is even worse, telling people (in a round about way) that it's okay to drink more when you have a bit more experience!

Its 35mg here tho isn't it?!?

depends what the sample measured is


so 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath is correct, or 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, or 107 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine. 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

in sweden if you are close to someone that breaks wind, and they have been drinking, you are over the limit...

LRswe wrote:

in sweden if you are close to someone that breaks wind, and they have been drinking, you are over the limit...

should be zero all over the uk. rainy-city
xs

Agree with bigalf. However, the morning after is still an issue. Even the most careful driver has no exact way of telling when it is safe to drive again. The "one hour per unit" is still only a guide. Perhaps we should go down the French route of keeping breathalysers in our cars to check in the morning! John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

I always allow 12 hours between drinking and driving. But 0 should be the future

Zero Alcohol - Zero Tolerance.

And the same goes for having a shave, reading, putting on lipstick, using a hand held mobile, changing specs, putting on a jumper, eating sandwiches, putting the dog on the back seat - all of which I've seen others do whilst driving

I agree 1000%

If you are driving - you should 'ONLY' be driving - it's a big metal killing machine

How many people operating large and heavy machinery do so on a mobile phone / eating a sandwich or applying lipstick  2002 Honda VFR800
2002 Toyota Celica 140 Silver (mid life crisis - again!)
2007 FL2 GS Manual Army Reconnaissance Green + freel2.com sticker
2004 Toyota Celica 140 Black - Gone
2000 Toyota Celica 140 Silver - Gone
1998 Toyota Celica ST Pearl Green - Gone
1996 Nissan Primera 1.6 - Gone
1994 Rover Montego 1.6 Auto - Gone

If someone is going to be driving, no alcohol at all even if you are going to drive the next morning, if someone feels that they must have a drink within about 12hrs of intending to drive they may have a bigger problem with alcohol in general having said that there is a hard core of drivers who will drink and drive regardless of what the limit is, more effective would be harsher penalties but that would infringe on thier "human rights".

Ghyllie oo! Shiney!
____________________________________________
55 Nissan Navara SE Black - My Toy.
08 Freelander 2 XS Santorini Black - Her Majesty's Toy.

There is already a zero tolerance policy on using a mobile..........that hasn't worked,
I also think smoking and driving should be on the banned list, it's just a matter of policing it,

A zero limit may sound like a good idea, but even a tee totaler may fail that! Very small amounts of alcohol may be present in any individual as a result of normal biological processes alone.

the only biological process ive got is i produce a certan amount of gas on a regular basis  rainy-city
xs

Ghyllie wrote:

If someone is going to be driving, no alcohol at all even if you are going to drive the next morning, if someone feels that they must have a drink within about 12hrs of intending to drive they may have a bigger problem with alcohol in general having said that there is a hard core of drivers who will drink and drive regardless of what the limit is, more effective would be harsher penalties but that would infringe on thier "human rights".

Ghyllie

Are you talking a "Scottish drink" or a civilised social drink of an evening . Most folk commute to work so would have to abstain for much of their lives.

Thankfully being retired I don't have this quandary to face  MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings