The road safety charity Brake has welcomed the plans to lower the drink-drive limit in Scotland.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has said that the proposed decrease of the legal limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg will be brought forward to later this year.
However, Brake has also said that the 50mg limit will leave drivers confused as to how much alcohol they can drink before getting behind the wheel. Brake recommends a limit of 20mg or less which would effectively make it illegal to drive after drinking any amount of alcohol.
Sarah Fatica, general manager at Brake, said, "What we really need to see is a strong message from our Governments in Scotland and Westminster to say that not a drop is acceptable if you are behind the wheel. This is because evidence clearly shows that even very small amounts of alcohol impair driving."
In 2010, one in seven road deaths involved drink drivers. This equates to 250 deaths and 1,230 casualties. An estimated 65 deaths were caused by drivers who had been drinking but were not over the current 80mg limit.
