ALAC calls for lower BAC levels

 The Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) says it supports proposals in a Ministry of Transport discussion document to lower the legal Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) limit for driving in New Zealand.

Commenting on the report released today, ALAC said it supported the option of reducing the BAC for adult drivers from 0.08 to 0.05 and introducing a zero blood alcohol limit for all under-20 year olds regardless of licence status.
ALAC Strategy Manager Andrew Hearn said New Zealand BAC limits were high by international standards and best practice overseas was for a legal BAC limit of 0.05 for adults and a zero BAC for young people.

“There is clear evidence of an increase in crash risk as blood alcohol levels increase, and the effect is much more pronounced in younger drivers,” Dr Hearn said.

“For example, drivers aged between 20 and 29 years are 50.2 times more likely to have a fatal crash at BAC 0.08 compared to 17.5 times as likely at BAC 0.05.”

Dr Hearn said research showed there had been significant decreases in the number of fatal collisions, serious collisions and single-vehicle collisions in those overseas countries with a 0.05 BAC limit compared with the number of these types of collisions occurring when the BAC limit in these jurisdictions was 0.08 as it was currently in New Zealand.

“International experience also shows that a reduction in the BAC is likely to bring down mean alcohol levels amongst all drivers, including the ‘hard core’. For example, after the limit was lowered to 0.05 BAC in the Australian Capital Territories there was a 41 percent reduction in those caught with more than 0.15 BAC.”