Call to lower drink driving limit further

The limit was reduced to 50mg per 100ml of blood last month, lower than the UK standard of 80mg but in line with other European countries.

But SNP MSP Christian Allard has called on the Scottish Government to lower it to 30mg for drivers of large goods vehicles or public transport.

Around one in ten deaths on Scotland’s roads involve drivers who are over the legal alcohol limit, he said.

“Large vehicles can cause catastrophic damage if they are involved in a collision, so we rightly require a greater standard of training from the people who drive them,” he said.

“An LGV or a bus is the last thing that someone with any trace of alcohol in their system should be driving, so we should apply the same principle and lower the limit for people driving such vehicles even further.

“There should already be no excuse for someone driving a large vehicle with any trace of alcohol in their system and that should be reflected in the law.

“I will be writing to the Scottish Government to ask them to study this proposal and I hope that it is one we will see action on.”

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