Editorial: Lower limit brings change

Alcohol limit changes have gone into effect his week.

This week the alcohol limit for drivers aged 20 and over changed.

The level has been lowered from 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath to 250 micrograms.

Many of you enjoying a summer evening after-work drink will have already wondered whether that second or third drink - one you wouldn't have hesitated to have before - will put you close to the new limit.

At least one news report this week has detailed the amount "average-sized" men and women would be able to drink under the new rules.

Apparently, until this month an average-sized man could drink five standard drinks over two hours and still be under the limit.

I always think it's dangerous to make such statements. Alcohol affects everybody differently and you risk giving people the wrong idea about how much they can handle.

There's no way I would ever drive with the equivalent of five standard drinks in my system. Call me a lightweight, but I'd probably have trouble making it to the car. And I'm no average-sized man.

With the new limit, apparently your average male drinker would be safe with three and a half standard drinks under their belt.

Even this sounds too much. Other reports suggest two drinks over two hours is about right.

The problem is, there can be no consensus because so many factors - including body size, metabolism, gender, food - determine how affected by alcohol you will be.

And those breath alcohol machines held by the checkpoint police officers won't care about any of that if you're over the limit.

Maybe the new rules will change the nature of after-work drinks for a whole generation, maybe they'll encourage people to do something else instead, or maybe light beers will take off in popularity. None of those are bad things.

The key thing is, drink driving still happens, year after year, week after week, despite decades of social unacceptability.

Hopefully, this law change will be another nail in its coffin.