The European Union would be wise to introduce a zero-tolerance drink-driving limit in 2020 as part of a package of measures to help prevent up to 5,000 alcohol-linked road deaths every year, according to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC).
A quarter of the 25,000 EU road deaths each year are likely to be linked to alcohol, according to European Commission estimates.
ETSC is also calling on the EU to require the fitment of alcohol interlock devices in professional vehicles such as lorries, coaches and vans as well as requiring their use by recidivist drink-driving offenders as well as first time high-level offenders.Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France and Sweden are among the countries that offer alcohol interlock offender programmes today while France and Finland have legislated the use of alcohol interlocks for some categories of professional vehicles such as school buses. 13 EU countries are cutting drink-driving deaths at a faster rate than overall declines in road deaths, according to the new research. In contrast, the UK, Cyprus, Belgium, Estonia, Hungary, Sweden and Slovakia all appear to be tackling drink-driving at a slower rate than the overall progress.
These are the maximum drink driving limits across Europe for drivers as well as special limits for commercial and novice drivers where applicable. Shown in grammes per litre.
| Standard | Commercial drivers | Novice drivers | |
| Austria | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Belgium | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Bulgaria | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Croatia | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Cyprus | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Czech Republic | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Denmark | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Estonia | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Finland | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| France | 0.5 | 0.5 (0.2 bus drivers) | 0.2 |
| Germany | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Greece | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Hungary | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Ireland | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Italy | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Latvia | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Lithuania | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Luxembourg | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Malta | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Netherlands | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Poland | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Portugal | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Romania | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Slovakia | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Slovenia | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Spain | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Sweden | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| UK [i] | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Switzerland | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
[i] Scotland 0,5 for all groups.
Last updated: December 2019
