Andrew Snowden MP has spoken out against the Government’s proposed reduction in the drink driving limit, warning that it risks being a distraction from relentlessly focussing in on the real causes of death and serious injury on Britain’s roads.
Speaking in Parliament this week, the former Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire said that lowering the legal alcohol limit would do little to tackle the most dangerous behaviour, whilst also diverting attention and resources away from pursuing and prosecuting the drivers who pose the greatest risk to others.
Andrew Snowden MP said:
“Road safety is something I care deeply about. As Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, I funded a dedicated roads policing unit because I saw first-hand the harm caused by reckless and irresponsible driving. My concern with lowering the drink drive limit is that it risks becoming a red herring. The evidence consistently shows that the drivers who cause the most harm are not just slightly over the limit - they are often two, three or four times over it. Reducing the limit would not have prevented or changed the tragic outcomes in those cases.”
Andrew has also challenged the Government’s claims that reducing the drink drive limit in Scotland directly led to safer roads, arguing that a closer examination of the evidence paints a far more mixed picture.
“Detailed analysis of the Scottish experience found no measurable correlation between the reduction in fatal, serious or minor road collisions and the limit change. A lot of the data and examples the government use – when you put them side by side and interrogate them simply don’t map across each other. In the case of Scotland, its widely know that there was a huge variety of changing factors that impacted on the reduction in road deaths – people having one pint instead of two was not, from anything I can see, a contributing factor.”
“If ministers want to save lives, the focus has to be on catching, prosecuting and stopping the people who ignore the law altogether, whatever the limit is. That is where real harm comes from, and that is where real gains in road safety are made.”
Andrew also used his intervention in Parliament to highlight the growing threat posed by drug driving.
“Police forces are now sometimes detecting more drug drivers than drink drivers during major operations. That should concern everyone. Drug driving is a growing and extremely dangerous problem, and we are still only scratching the surface. Stronger deterrents and tougher enforcement in this area would save far more lives.”
Andrew Snowden MP also warned about the impact of the proposal on rural communities and local hospitality businesses.
“In places like Fylde and across rural Lancashire, pubs and restaurants are already under huge pressure. A blunt change to the law risks finishing off those businesses while doing little to stop the killers who get behind the wheel drunk."
He concluded “There are several measurers in the Road Safety Strategy that I welcome. Better detection of drug drivers, more enforcement action, education of younger drivers, and action to curb false number plates. All of these things will improve road safety, but getting distracted by arresting otherwise responsible and law-abiding citizens because they’ve had pint and a half of best bitter at a family meal out, is not going to make any difference”.
