KEY POINTS:
Calls are mounting from authorities for a reduction in alcohol limits for drivers.
The Alcohol Advisory Council (Alac), Accident Compensation Commission, and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons have endorsed a proposal to cut blood-alcohol limits to almost half their current level for drivers over 20 and to
virtually zero for younger drivers.
The support for the police proposal represents a turnaround for Alac, which until recently opposed lower limits, saying evidence in favour of them was uncompelling.
But chief executive Gerard Vaughan yesterday said the council had reviewed research from countries that had lowered their limits and it now believed reducing blood alcohol would save lives.
"It represents a development of thinking at Alac," he said.
Mr Vaughan said an international trend towards lower blood-alcohol limits existed, and the overseas research highlighted direct links between increased blood alcohol and the risk of being involved in a road crash.
The evidence was particularly compelling in the 18-20 age group, showing that zero tolerance reduced heavy "per occasion" drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) among males by 13 per cent.
Police and alcohol watchdogs have been reluctant to say exactly how much drivers could consume to stay within the proposed limits, citing variables such as body mass, food consumed and fatigue.
However, an independent expert commissioned by the Herald calculated the level would fall by about half - from four standard drinks for men in the first hour to two drinks, and from two standard drinks for women to one.
ACC has endorsed the proposal on the grounds that many New Zealanders are continuing to ignore drink-drive messages.
"The move to reduce the blood alcohol limit is a sensible next step in the ongoing effort to combat the unacceptable number of people who are hurt or killed by drunk drivers," chief executive Jan White said.
Dr White said in the last five years, ACC claims from road crashes had risen a "staggering" 25 per cent to 5500 a year.
"We estimate that in about a quarter of all cases alcohol was a contributing factor."
She said overseas studies had shown that with lower limits, not only were there fewer deaths and injuries, but drivers who previously exceeded an 80mg limit were likely to drink less.
In Queensland, Australia, crashes involving drivers with blood alcohol between 80mg and 150mg fell 8 per cent when the limit was cut to 50mg.
Crashes involving the state's worst drink drivers, with blood alcohol above 150mg, fell 12 per cent.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons said both Australian and European evidence showed the benefits of a lower limit.
"The college supports any measure that will reduce the road toll and this is one of the most tangible things that can be done," executive director for surgical affairs John Simpson said.
National road policing manager Superintendent Dave Cliff, who issued the call for a lower limit in May, welcomed the endorsements.
"If you look at the evidence [for a lower limit], it's inescapable." However, the Automobile Association - the country's largest motoring organisation - told the Herald that it opposed lowering limits because most New Zealanders did not drink and drive.
