CUTTING the drink drive limit in Scotland did not reduce road traffic crashes and had virtually no impact on the nation’s alcohol consumption, according to the first major study to evaluate its impact.
Researchers at Glasgow University said the law change failed to cut crashes because it was “insufficiently enforced” by police, for example through increased roadside breath-testing.
Bizarrely, Scotland actually recorded a 7% increase in its weekly road traffic accident rates relative to England and Wales after the change in December 2014.
This was due to a decline in road crashes in England and Wales rather than an increase in collisions in Scotland, where the figures remained at a standstill.
It is unclear what was behind the decrease south of the Border, however, as its drink-drive limit has remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, the researchers found that alcohol consumption from bars and restaurants in Scotland declined by under 1% while intake from off-trade sales such as supermarkets and convenience stores – which represents three quarters of total sale – was unaffected.
Read more: Scots pubs lose millions after drink-drive changes
The findings are published today in the Lancet.
“In terms of a before and after effect on RTAs from the intervention - we just did not observe one in Scotland,” said Professor Jim Lewsey, of Glasgow University’s Institute of Health and Wellbeing.
“There were reports after the intervention came into force that on-trade sales had been affected. Publicans were reporting soon after that their sales had been hit.
"There was this idea that people might not come to golf clubs, bowling clubs and so on if they weren’t able to have their one or two pints. But although we saw a statistically significant drop in on-trade sales its magnitude was less than 1%.”
Read more: Drug driving limits and roadside testing to be rolled out in Scotland
A spokesman for Scottish Government said it acknowledged the report and “will study it carefully”.
Chief Superintendent Stewart Carle, head of Road Policing for Police Scotland, said it “would be premature to judge what is behind these findings or what should happen next”.
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