Lower alcohol limit encourages greater consumption

The UK is deliberating reducing the alcohol limit for drivers to 50 mg of alcohol to 100 millilitres of blood. The Daily Telegraph sees this as a bad idea: "Driving while over the alcohol limit has become taboo for the overwhelming majority in this country. The fact that the limit is sensibly pitched at 80mg of alcohol to 100 millilitres of blood has helped contribute to that. In allowing people to have a drink or two, the law is seen as fair and measured and, as a result, it is widely observed. The new rules would put someone of average build at risk of breaking the law after drinking just one standard glass of wine. This could have the perverse effect of leading some drivers to drink more than they do now, on the basis that they may as well be hung for sheep as for lambs."

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