Medics join push to cut driver limit

BY SAM SACHDEVA

Health experts have joined the call for a lower drink-driving limit after a horror week on New Zealand roads.

The pressure comes weeks before a Cabinet decision on whether it will lower the blood-alcohol limit from 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres to 50mg as part of its 10-year road-safety strategy, called Safer Journeys.

Twenty-one people have died in 14 road accidents over the past seven days, with an elderly woman pedestrian killed when she was struck by a vehicle in the Bay of Plenty town of Paengaroa the latest victim.

Police said alcohol was believed to have played a part in five of the crashes.

In a seminar on the alcohol limit yesterday, Capital & Coast District Health Board chief medical officer Geoff Robinson said New Zealand's 80mg limit was high by international standards.

People below the current limit could display clear signs of intoxication, such as slurred speech, poor balance and impaired judgment, he said.

"I've seen [scientific] tests where the person is still below the legal limit and they're absolutely appalled because they are so intoxicated that they'd never think of driving."

Robinson said evidence pointed to a 50mg limit as the stage at which driving impairment became noticeable, with drivers over the limit taking increased time to respond to hazards and displaying high error rates.

Otago University professor of preventive and social medicine Jennie Connor said the current law put New Zealand in a minority of developed countries with a blood-alcohol limit above 50mg.

The United States, Canada and Britain have an 80mg limit, while Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have a 50mg limit.

Connor said international studies and "on-road" evidence showed the safety benefits of a lower limit, which would also cause people to think more carefully about how much they drank.

"It would change the drinking culture in this country," she said.

"Even heavy-drinking drivers (in other countries) have done less drinking when alcohol limits have been lowered."

A 50mg limit would allow people to have "occasions with moderate drinking" and still drive legally, she said.

"Some people try to say that it's only going to affect nice, reasonable people when the issue is demon recidivist drink-drivers, but the evidence doesn't stack up for that," Connor said.

Environmental Science and Research forensic toxicologist Allan Stowell said the current law allowed drivers to drink a substantial amount of alcohol.

A 1.8-metre man weighing 85 kilograms could have between 4.5 and 6.9 standard drinks in an hour and still legally drive, while a 1.65m, 70kg woman could have between three and 4.6 drinks.

A 50mg limit would change that to between three and 4.7 for men and between two and 3.1 for women, he said.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said the Cabinet had not decided on the blood-alcohol limit, but an announcement was likely early next month.

The recent road deaths had "put more impetus" into the Safer Journeys proposals, he said.

The Cabinet would take international laws and research into consideration when deciding on the limit, Joyce said. Public opinion would also play an important part in the decision.

"It's not about politics," he said. "An issue like road safety affects everyone, so you need to make sure there's widespread support to avoid a backlash against any decisions you make."

He said the Cabinet could decide to commission more research on drivers with alcohol levels between 50mg and 80mg because of the lack of information.

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