Clause 13 - Period of endorsement for failure to allow specimen to be tested
Road Safety Bill [Lords]
1:30 pm
David Kidney (PPS (Mr Elliot Morley, Minister of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Stafford, Labour)
Yes, these are people who are over the present limit. I am happy to make that clarification for the right hon. Gentleman.
As I said, in 2004, 590 people were killed on our roads. If that figure is multiplied by 20, it still does not come to the total who were injured due to people driving while over the legal drink-drive limit: in 2003, 15,000 people were injured; in 2004, 17,000 people were injured. Therefore, although the Government are making good progress to meet the targets in the 2000 road safety strategy, “Tomorrow’s Roads—Safer for Everyone”, which by 2010 are to
“reduce the number of road deaths and serious injuries by 40 per cent.”,
drink-driving fatalities are a stubborn exception to the overall downward trend.
Since 1998, the number of deaths caused by drink-driving has stopped falling. In fact, it is going in the opposite direction. The figure of 590 is a rise from the year before, which was a rise from the year before that. There is evidence, therefore, that the situation is getting worse instead of better, and that is why there is a need for action. What can be done, and what does new clause 1 seek to do?
The present drink-driving limit was set in section 5 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, and the following information can be found on page 19 of House of Commons research paper—