Drink-drive decision 'finely balanced'

Pressure is building for the Government to lower the drink-drive limit, with the public release of Transport Ministry advice saying the current limit is "grossly out of line" with public attitudes.

The advice - obtained by the Drug Foundation under the Official Information Act - comes as the Government is agonising over whether to reduce the 80 milligram blood-alcohol limit for adults to 50 milligrams, or whether more research is needed.

Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell says the latest set of Transport Ministry documents shows the Cabinet has no good reason to retain the existing adult limit.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said yesterday that the issue was "finely balanced", and the Cabinet was likely to decide towards the end of the month, after the Budget.

Mr Bell said the papers outlined 300 drink-driving studies over 50 years, demonstrating conclusively that critical driving abilities such as vision, steering and braking start becoming impaired even at the 50mg level, and that drivers are significantly handicapped at 80mg.

One paper says the ability to focus on and track the movements of other vehicles or to maintain lane position as the direction of the road changes is impaired at that level of alcohol in the blood stream, as are reaction times.

It says a drink-driver aged 30 or more is 16 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than if sober, and those aged 20 to 29 are at 50 times more risk.

Although it acknowledges most drivers killed with alcohol in their systems have levels well above 80mg, the paper says a key advantage of a lower limit is that it encourages people to keep a better count of their drinks.

It says they would stand a better chance of making responsible decisions - whether to stop drinking or not to drive - at a 50mg limit.

Another ministry paper says that even at 50mg, drivers are six times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than if they were sober.

It says the 80mg limit, as well as being out of step with the 50mg in every Australian state and territory, is "grossly out of line with the level of risk most New Zealanders are prepared to tolerate among drivers".

That follows a ministry survey of attitudes to road safety last year among 1650 people, of whom 85 per cent thought drivers should be limited to two or fewer drinks in an hour before hitting the road, meaning they would be likely to have less than 50mg of alcohol in their systems.

Mr Joyce last year famously described the existing limit as "ridiculous" and one that, theoretically, allowed him to quaff three-quarters of a bottle of wine in 90 minutes before getting behind a wheel. He said public acceptance of any change was critical to its success.

"Historically we have examples where governments have got out in front of the public around the road system and road rules and caused a backlash," he said. "Certainly road rules are set and enforced with support from the public - it's a very open and democratic place."

He said: "If you ask people what amounts they should be allowed to drink, they definitely come up with what would equate to the lower limit, but then if you ask them what the limit should be, they don't equate the two.

"One thing Cabinet will address alongside the research is how well supported a limit change will be."

Also, Mr Joyce expects the Government to introduce a zero alcohol requirement for drivers under 20, who are now restricted to a level of 30mg.