Road safety institute weighing up zero alcohol limit for drivers

The Dutch Road Safety Research Institute has released a new study on reducing the drug and alcohol limit for drivers to zero, finding it would probably decrease road accidents but would increase pressure on the police.

SWOV looked at the policy in eight countries with limits lower than the Netherlands, which is of blood alcohol level of 0.05% or 0.02% for those who have been driving for less than 5 years.

The risk of accidents is already elevated at the 0.05% level, the report says. Other countries, including Norway and Sweden, set the level at 0.02% for all drivers.

“An absolute zero limit is considered to be a simple and unambiguous standard that leaves less room for interpretation of what is still permissible and what is not,” the report says, and would improve road safety.

However, lowering the limit will lead to more work for police but also testing facilities. It can be difficult, especially with cannabis, to properly detect the levels, especially with saliva tests.

“Particularly for THC and cocaine, concentrations or metabolites can remain detectable long after the immediate effects have disappeared,” the institute wrote, which would create legal problems for criminal prosecutions.