Stephen's brother Tony was killed when he was hit by a drink driver while walking home from the pub. Stephen and his brother-in-law were severely injured too. In this short film by Brake, Stephen talks about how the crash affected his life.
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Why is Brake campaigning for zero-tolerance on drink-driving?

Every year, more than 200 people die in drink-driving incidents on UK roads and a further 1,600 are seriously injured [1].

England, Wales and Northern Ireland have the highest maximum drink-driving limits in Europe (80mg alcohol per 100ml of blood), including for commercial drivers [2,3].

In Scotland, the limit is 50mg alcohol per 100ml of blood.

This makes some people think driving after one or two drinks is safe, but drinking any alcohol can affect our driving and increase our risk of a crash.

We want to change that and make drink-driving a thing of the past. We are calling for the legal limit to be lowered to 20mg alcohol per 100ml of blood for all drivers across the UK.

Key facts

  • A driver with 50-80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood is six times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than a driver who has drunk no alcohol [4].
  • The British Medical Association considers any driver with a blood alcohol level of 50mg per 100ml of blood to be 'seriously impaired'.
  • Drinking and driving increases the chance of a road crash, and increases the risk of death or serious injury if a crash happens [5].
  • Young and newly qualified drivers are at much greater risk of having a crash when under the influence of alcohol compared to older and more experienced drivers [6].
  • Drink driving is also associated with other high-risk road use behaviours such as speeding or not using seat-belts [7].
  • In 2022, 260 people died in drink-drive collisions in Britain. A further 1,610 people were seriously injured [8]. There has been no significant reduction in drink-driving casualties for more than 12 years.

Alcohol seriously impairs many of the functions needed to drive safely. Even small amounts of alcohol impair driving, including reaction times, coordination, vision and how you judge speed and distance. After drinking alcohol, drivers are more inclined to take risks and believe they are in control when they are not.

Many drink drivers are caught ‘over the limit’ the day after drinking – many factors influence the amount of time it takes for alcohol to leave your system, including gender, food, hydration and tiredness.

A 'zero-tolerance' limit sets a limit of 10–20mg of alcohol per 100ml blood. This allows for minimal accidental alcohol consumption, for example through the use of mouthwash.