Drunk drivers accounted for 15% of all UK road deaths in newly revealed Department for Transport figures.  

Overall, around 6% of all road casualties in 2020 involved a drunk driver

Final figures for 2020 released by the Department for Transport (DfT) indicate there were 220 deaths on Britain’s roads in 2020 where a motorist was over the drink-drive limit, only slightly down on 10 years previously when there were 240 fatalities, despite the multiple Covid lockdowns in 2020.  

The figures also estimate a total of 6,480 people were killed or injured in drink-drive accidents, compared with 7,800 in 2019.  

Overall, around 6% of all road casualties involved a drunk driver.    

Hunter Abbott, managing director of breathalyser firm AlcoSense, said the fall in overall drink-drive casualties should be viewed in the context of Covid.  

“Traffic was down by a quarter in 2020, with weekdays slumping to 35% of pre-Covid levels in April.   

“What these figures don’t tell you, however, is how many more casualties were caused by ‘lethal but legal’ drivers – those who were above the point of intoxication where effects on cognitive function occur, but below the official drink-drive limit.”  

The current limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland of 0.80 ‰BAC is the highest in Europe and the joint highest anywhere in the developed world, leading to continued calls for it to be drastically cut.    

In European countries such as Ireland, Germany and Spain the drink drive limit is 0.50 ‰BAC (and lower at 0.20 ‰BAC for commercial and novice drivers).  In Poland, Sweden and Norway it is 0.2 ‰BAC for all drivers and in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania the limit is zero.  

“The UK government should bring our limit down to help remove legal but lethal drivers from our roads,” added Hunter Abbott, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), which said last year that the UK’s system to prevent drink-driving is no longer adequate and needs a major review – including a lower limit and improved enforcement.  

Speaking last month, David Davies, executive director of PACTS, commented: “Driving while legal but lethal is an area of great concern. PACTS has consistently called for a lower legal limit. Laws help to set social norms, as we have seen with bans on smoking in public places. PACTS also wants to see better enforcement by the police and the use of alcohol interlocks to prevent reoffending.”