ALAC welcomes no alcohol for drivers under 20

The Alcohol Advisory Council (ALAC) has welcomed the Government’s announcement that it will adopt a zero blood alcohol limit for drivers under 20.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce was reported today saying he was confident Cabinet would approve a reduction from a 30mg alcohol limit to zero for drivers under 20.

ALAC Chief Executive Officer Gerard Vaughan said ALAC had been pushing for some time for a zero limit for young drivers and he applauded the move.

However, ALAC would also like to see the current BAC limit of 80 mg/100ml for adult drivers reduced to 50mg/100ml.

Mr Vaughan said New Zealand’s legal BAC limits were high by international standards.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a legal BAC limit of 50mg/100ml for adults and a zero BAC for young people. The amount you can drink under the current regime is ridiculously high. Our current BAC of 0.08 allows people to become significantly impaired and still legally drive. It allows a man of average height and weight to consume six standard drinks within 90 minutes (about three quarters of a bottle of wine). For a woman it allows four standard drinks to be consumed (about half a bottle of wine).”

Mr Vaughan said the current BAC of 0.08 for adult drivers was set in 1978. Since then New Zealand and international research had consistently demonstrated the benefits associated with BAC levels of 0.05, or lower, in saving lives and preventing serious injuries.

Mr Vaughan said other countries that dropped BAC to 0.05 from BAC 0.08 saw reductions in crashes. In Australia New South Wales achieved an eight percent reduction in fatal crashes and a seven percent reduction in serious injury crashes; Queensland achieved an 18 percent reduction in fatal crashes and a 14 percent reduction in serious crashes; Belgium achieved a 10 percent reduction in all alcohol related fatalities; and France achieved a 30 percent reduction in alcohol related fatal crashes.