ACPO come out bold

In a bold move from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), it has been suggested that the legal blood alcohol limit should be cut right down to nothing.

The declaration is particularly stark due to the fact that only recently, the Government failed to approve the proposal arising from the North report that there should at least be a reduction from 80mg/100ml (alcohol/blood) to 50mg.

However, the Deputy Chief Constable (DCC) believes that since any amount of alcohol can impair a person’s motor skills and judgement, any amount is dangerous when it comes to driving. What’s more, the current system doesn’t do enough to discourage people from drinking and driving since it accepts some level of alcohol in the system, putting an institutional stamp of approval on an action that should be condemned. As such, a zero tolerance system lets people know that it’s not ok to drive whilst under the influence of any amount, and that they shouldn’t be taking risks (physical or legal) by consuming even minimal quantities.

However, an exact zero limit does cause some problems. For example, some foods, desserts and other things like mouthwashes contain a small amount of alcohol. Setting the limit at zero would criminalise people that had one liqueur chocolate, or who rinsed with mouthwash. It is respectfully suggested that this would be a nonsensical move that would not help anyone. As such, the most responsible course of action is one that sets an extremely low alcohol limit that can approach zero, whilst still allowing minimal amounts to be in the system. Reducing is good; banning is misguided.

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