Lower BAC limits?

[balthazarr]

http://www.theage.com.au/national/ca...0811-egz6.html

Call to revise .05 limit
Julia Medew
August 12, 2009
AUSTRALIA'S .05 blood-alcohol limit should be re-examined in light of overseas experience showing a .02 limit reduces road fatalities, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana has said.

Speaking at a binge-drinking forum in Melbourne yesterday, Mr Fontana said alcohol was linked to a third of car accidents in Victoria, and that, personally, he was not opposed to lowering the limit to .02 to bring Australia into line with countries like Sweden.

''We are still getting a lot of drivers who are well over the limit, so we might need to rethink that (.05 limit),'' he said. ''We still have a lot of problems with alcohol on our roads.''

Most Western countries have blood-alcohol content limits (BACs) between .05 and .08, but a handful of countries, including Sweden and Norway, have introduced a .02 limit, with stiff penalties for any breaches.

The Commonwealth Government's National Drug Strategy says that although there is little international experience of alcohol levels below .05, research shows that when Sweden changed its limit from .05 to .02 in 1990, alcohol-related road fatalities dropped 8-10 per cent.

The strategy said it was therefore assumed that if Australia reduced its limit to .02, it could expect a similar reduction in its road toll.

Last year, Victoria Police breath tested 1.4 million drivers and found about 5700 over the limit.

In the same year, 50 drivers - 28 per cent of drivers killed on Victorian roads - recorded levels of .05 or more.

Of these, most were heavily intoxicated, registering more than three times the legal limit.

Dr Michael Lenne, senior research fellow at Monash University's Accident Research Centre, said lowering the limit could save lives.

But he said it was difficult to know how much of a deterrent a .02 limit would be to those who already drank excessively and drove.

''We would need to do a fair bit of work on the potential benefits of it, given that most of the drivers who are killed have BACs well over .05,'' he said.

He also cautioned against presuming Sweden's limit would have the same effect here, because it has much higher taxes and restrictions on the sale and consumption of alcohol more broadly.

I can't see how this will improve the road toll at all. The fools that drive way over the current .05 limit are not going to notice... all this will do is catch out the thousands (millions?) of people that have a drink or two after work on a Friday night.

[Gabbs]

Why don't they impound the cars of people caught over the current limit. Hoons and the like get there cars taken off them yet drink drivers don't.

[RG]

''We are still getting a lot of drivers who are well over the limit, so we might need to rethink that (.05 limit),'' he said. ''We still have a lot of problems with alcohol on our roads.''

How is lowering the limit going to have any effect on those already well over the current limit?

Is this guy for real?

[PepeLePew]

Oh bewdie yet another safety bandwagon for attention seeking pollies to climb on.

[balthazarr]

Originally Posted by RG

How is lowering the limit going to have any effect on those already well over the current limit? ...

Exactly. It won't.

Why bother with a .02 BAC? May as well reduce it to 0.0.
According to http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm, if you weigh anything under 160 pounds (72.5kgs), one scotch on the rocks is enough to have you over the limit in the first hour (estimate only, of course).

[Green X]

"Most Western countries have blood-alcohol content limits (BACs) between .05 and .08, but a handful of countries, including Sweden and Norway, have introduced a .02 limit, with stiff penalties for any breaches."

by a hand full they mean 2 other country's!!

"Last year, Victoria Police breath tested 1.4 million drivers and found about 5700 over the limit."

hardly a DD epidemic, i'm no fan off DD but 5700 out of 1.4 million!!! how manny of these would ahve been only just over the .05 limit?


"most of the drivers who are killed have BACs well over .05,'' he said."

No way this guy has got to be a professor!!

"Dr Michael Lenne, senior research fellow at Monash University's Accident Research Centre, said lowering the limit could save lives."

COULD being the word of the day in this case.

"In the same year, 50 drivers - 28 per cent of drivers killed on Victorian roads - recorded levels of .05 or more."

So haw many were .05 or below?


I think Victoria needs to change it's name to Sweden Mk2

[flappist]

So which car would you rather be in:

a) Driver with BAC of 0.06
b) Driver got license yesterday and it is pouring rain at night
c) Driver has an acute allergy to pollen and you are in a rural area in spring
d) Driver has not slept for 14 hours and has be driving for 10 hrs
e) Driver is from a LHD country and this is the first time they have ever driven a RHD vehicle
f) Driver has never been to a city before and although has a manual licence has not driven one for 3 years and then only for their license test and is about to drive in Sydney/Melbourne peak hour in a manual car with bad visibility

Only one of these is illegal........

One of the thing I find ammusing is how so many of the sub 30 year olds go off over 0.05 BAC and how it is end of the world. I like almost everone my age drove with a BAC of 0.08-0.15 almost every weekend for years and travelled huge distances. (we also used to drive very fast eveywhere but not so much after drinking) We are all still alive. How can this be?

Now before the arc up, if you have never driven with a BAC of over 0.05 you have no idea what it is like or if it ACTUALLY causes you to drive dangerously.

You only know what you have been told by the same people who have told you that 101km/h in a 100 zone is fatal, rolling through a stop sign at 1km/h is fatal, lowering a car by 51mm is fatal, pod filters are fatal, neons are fatal, exhausts over 90db are fatal, the last day of P plates you cannot handle the power of a V8 but the next morning you can, unregistered cars are fatal etc etc etc......

We are our own worst enemies becuase we just let the wowsers get away with it all the time...

[GreenMachine]

Originally Posted by flappist

Now before the arc up, if you have never driven with a BAC of over 0.05 you have no idea what it is like or if it ACTUALLY causes you to drive dangerously.
...

I see your point, but you do have to draw the line somewhere. The danger difference between 0.5 and 0.8 might not be that great, but what about 0.8 v 1 v 1.2 etc... Much like speed limits, pick a number and enforce it. You can't argue that a driver is just as safe after 10 beers as they are sober.

Like you said, I was a serial drink driver (as in over 0.5, although fortunately that was never tested) for years, getting back to the farm from the pub on a Friday night - no cabs in Kenilworth.

I always drove safely on back roads and never had an accident... until I backed the ZH off a dirt corner in to a table drain one afternoon on a cigarette run after a few sherbets. Only good luck stopped me and my mate chewing on fence posts and gum trees, another statistic for the Sunshine Coast Daily. Wouldn't have done that sober. Have been much more careful ever since. Just my story.

[kyro_02]

complete morons, so you can be over the .02 if you decide to get the munchies and buy a couple of...boxes of.. cherry ripes :P

if this is enforced, then whoever did it needs to be shot!!

why so many kneejerk regulations, im sick of it, it has to end!!

[f1tzy]

yay no drink after work for fear of being over a 0.02 limit. And at only .02, the next day you would still be over the limit until long into the day after a decent night on the

[balthazarr]

Originally Posted by f1tzy

yay no drink after work for fear of being over a 0.02 limit. And at only .02, the next day you would still be over the limit until long into the day after a decent night on the

Everyone at my work is already paranoid about going over, 0.02 will basically kill Friday night drinks.

[Nikked]

More fascist ruling.

ENFORCE THE LAWS HARDER! DON'T SLAP THEM ON THE WRIST! DON'T JERK THE KNEE!

[XW 393]

Make it 0 or leave it at 0.05.

[MRJUCY]

Driving drunk is stupid everyone knows that but at what point a persons BAC becomes a problem I can't say I really know but I don't think lowering it to 0.2 will effect the people who are currently putting our lives in danger by being well over the current limit.

[TOM-CAT]

Originally Posted by AUlien

Make it 0 or leave it at 0.05.

On the money.

0.02 will just cause more (legally) drunk drivers.

[f1tzy]

Originally Posted by balthazarr

Everyone at my work is already paranoid about going over, 0.02 will basically kill Friday night drinks.

Exactly. Right now im not worried about going over .05 after 1 on a friday arvo but with 0.02 i wouldn't be running the risk. What about a sat or sun morning after a decent night on the drink, id be over the limit until the next night

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by AUlien

Make it 0 or leave it at 0.05.

They're working their way to it.

In time drinking will be seen the same way as smoking.

[Mr Hardware]

The whole point they are missing is this. Are there any scenarios where .05 is a problem? No? then don't fix what ain't broke.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

The whole point they are missing is this. Are there any scenarios where .05 is a problem? No? then don't fix what ain't broke.

In vic 0.05 will mean you lose your licence. You need to be below 0.05.

[iCat]

Originally Posted by Gabbs

Why don't they impound the cars of people caught over the current limit. Hoons and the like get there cars taken off them yet drink drivers don't.

+ 1

how many caught drink drivers are repeat offenders? from hazy memory it's a fair old rate.

dropping to 0.02 will not change the mindset of those who would have drunk to excess anyway, just as dropping a speed limit in an area where people speed will slow them down.

[dom_105]

So it's just like the speed limits in the Northern Territory and speed cameras in Victoria. A lot of action, but does sweet all for the road toll.

[kyro_02]

Originally Posted by vztrt

In vic 0.05 will mean you lose your licence. You need to be below 0.05.

i thought .05 was the absolute max.. above that and you will get booked?

[RG]

Doesn't matter now anyway, Brumby has come out and said that he will not be going that way.

.05 it is.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by kyro_02

i thought .05 was the absolute max.. above that and you will get booked?

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/...inkDriving.htm

What’s the law?
Professional drivers such as truck, bus or taxi drivers; P-platers and learner drivers must have a zero blood alcohol concentration (BAC), while all other drivers must stay under .05 BAC.

Drink driving offences are not limited to public roads. They can be committed on private property.

[paule11]

I remember working in western Queensland and it wasnt that long ago really . When I asked distances between towns it was measured in stubbies I think Cloncurry to MtIsa was 3 stubbies

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by paule11

I remember working in western Queensland and it wasnt that long ago really . When I asked distances between towns it was measured in stubbies I think Cloncurry to MtIsa was 3 stubbies

[Charliewool]

Originally Posted by flappist

So which car would you rather be in:

a) Driver with BAC of 0.06
b) Driver got license yesterday and it is pouring rain at night
c) Driver has an acute allergy to pollen and you are in a rural area in spring
d) Driver has not slept for 14 hours and has be driving for 10 hrs
e) Driver is from a LHD country and this is the first time they have ever driven a RHD vehicle
f) Driver has never been to a city before and although has a manual licence has not driven one for 3 years and then only for their license test and is about to drive in Sydney/Melbourne peak hour in a manual car with bad visibility

Only one of these is illegal........

One of the thing I find ammusing is how so many of the sub 30 year olds go off over 0.05 BAC and how it is end of the world. I like almost everone my age drove with a BAC of 0.08-0.15 almost every weekend for years and travelled huge distances. (we also used to drive very fast eveywhere but not so much after drinking) We are all still alive. How can this be?

Now before the arc up, if you have never driven with a BAC of over 0.05 you have no idea what it is like or if it ACTUALLY causes you to drive dangerously.

You only know what you have been told by the same people who have told you that 101km/h in a 100 zone is fatal, rolling through a stop sign at 1km/h is fatal, lowering a car by 51mm is fatal, pod filters are fatal, neons are fatal, exhausts over 90db are fatal, the last day of P plates you cannot handle the power of a V8 but the next morning you can, unregistered cars are fatal etc etc etc......

We are our own worst enemies becuase we just let the wowsers get away with it all the time...

THAT is one of your best EVER posts Flappy!

"I like almost everone my age drove with a BAC of 0.08-0.15 almost every weekend for years and travelled huge distances. (we also used to drive very fast eveywhere but not so much after drinking) We are all still alive. How can this be"

EXACTLY!!!....

[cant]

I got done .051, got screwed/ long story!!!!!!

Anyway, used to drink regularly, wouldnt even bat an eyelid at getting in the car after 6-8 to go buy more, still walking and taking, capable of driving, and did,

these days I can have 2 beers and be "silly as a wheel", no way im driving!


Its called tolerance, if you drink every day, and drink lots regularly you can easily walk a stright line/ stand on one foot/ touch your nose with your eyes closed/ and drive a motor vehicle, but will be over .05 (they dont allow for that)


Thats how so many people get done, "feel fine" and are capable, but technically are over !!!!!!!!




[/B] "A LESSON LEARNT"


.

[XD.XG.XR6.XR8]

First: Who knew there was a binge-drinking forum being held?
For me it doesn't matter cause I don't drink at all , but don't get your nikkers in a knot , its a simple trick that is done all too often. There is a binge-drinking forum being held in Melbourne , so you get a high profile person like the Victorian Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana to make a controversial speech and back it up with some half *** facts and say these people are doing it , maybe we should too. Before you know it , its "HEADLINE" material , now everybody knows there is a binge-drinking forum. Goverment is seen to be doing something , Police are seem to be doing something and the publicity justifies another forum in the future. most of all its another tax payer funded trip for most of the people attending including their , wives , girlfriends and in some cases both.
For the record if you drink no matter how little don't drive.

[Teflon Turbo]

it should be ZERO! 0.0