New Northern Ireland drink-drive limits will be tougher for professional drivers

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Northern Ireland is set to adopt a two-tier drink-driving system. Under the new law which is expected to take force by 2018, learner and professional drivers will face a limit of 20mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood - down from the current limit of 80mg/100ml.

Northern Ireland intends to drop the general drink-drive limit down to 50mg/100ml, in line with Scotland, with the even lower limit for new and professional drivers. The current limit in England and Wales is 80mg/100ml.

"Last year 74 people lost their lives on our roads. We cannot, if at all possible, let this carnage continue," said Northern Ireland environment minister Mark Durkan.

"What I have done in this bill is to get to the root causes of the problem. That means tougher drink drive laws," he added.

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