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Queensland considers .02 driving limit
Queensland is considering lowering the blood alcohol limit from .05 to .02 in order to cut road toll. Norway and Sweden have the lowest road toll rates in the world and both have a blood alcohol limit of .02. The Scandinavian countries have four road deaths per 100,000 population, while Queensland has eight. Premier Anna Bligh and Transport Minister Rachel Nolan will ask Queenslanders to comment on the lower blood alcohol limit and other tough drink-drive measures.
In 2009 there were 71 fatal accidents involving alcohol on Queensland roads – about 22 per cent of the year’s road toll of 329. A Drink Driving in Queensland discussion paper says two reviews of the effectiveness of a lower alcohol limit – done after Queensland reduced it from .08 to .05 in 1985 – found it cut road deaths by 11 per cent. Department of Transport and Main Roads figures showed that the risk of a crash rose significantly for drivers with a BAC of .05 or greater.
A driver with a BAC of .15 had a crash risk 22 times that of a driver with no alcohol in their system. The paper says that if the general alcohol limit was lowered from .05, the ability of the drinking public to determine if they had too much to drink to legally drive would be impacted. “For example, a general alcohol limit of less than .05 may require people to abstain from drinking any alcohol on social occasions – for some people this may be only one standard drink – before driving.”
The Government recently introduced legislation to block drink-drivers from operating their cars. Interlock devices would be fitted to the ignitions of repeat and serious drink-driving offenders for 12 months, following an initial suspension of their licences. But Ms Bligh told The Sunday Mail that tougher measures needed to be considered as the number of drink-driving offences recorded each year continued to rise. “These people are not only risking their own lives but selfishly the lives of their passengers and other road users,” she said.
Comments
Comment Added
Oblivia said on the 22nd Mar, 2010
This seems like a pretty stupid idea unless there is evidence to suggest that having a BAC of .03 to .05 impares your driving. Accidents caused by people with a BAC of .15 aren't relevant. Citing Sweden and Norway is a bit misleading too. I am sure there
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