New Transport Committee Inquiry - Drink & drug driving law

Terms of reference and call for evidence

In 2009 the then Government commissioned Sir Peter North CBE QC to review the law on drink and drug driving.  Sir Peter’s report, published in June 2010, recommends a reduction in the permitted blood alcohol concentration when driving from 80mg/100ml to 50mg/100ml. It also calls for short-term improvements, and longer-term technological development, to detect drug driving. Sir Peter estimates that this reduction in the drink-drive limit would save up to 168 deaths in year 1, and 303 deaths by year 6.

The Government is currently considering Sir Peter’s recommendations.

The new Transport Committee invites interested parties to submit written evidence for a short inquiry into drink and drug driving law, setting out their views on Sir Peter North’s recommendations.

Contributors may wish to focus on the following issues:

• Should the permitted blood alcohol limit be reduced as proposed?
•  If so, is the mandatory one year driving ban appropriate for less severe offenders, at the new (lower) level?
•  How severe is the problem of drug driving and what should be done to address it?
• What wider costs and benefits are likely to result from changes to drink and drug driving law?
• What would be the implications of such changes for enforcement?

Interested parties are invited to submit evidence by Tuesday 31 August.

Notes on the submission of written evidence

It assists the Committee if those submitting written evidence adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Written submissions should be as short as is consistent with conveying the relevant information. As a rough guide, it is usually helpful if they can be confined to six pages or less. Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference. A single-page summary of the main points is sometimes helpful. The submission should be in a form suitable for monochrome photocopying.

2. Evidence should be submitted in Word or Rich Text format, by e-mail to transev@parliament.uk. The body of the e-mail should include a contact name, telephone number and postal address. It should be absolutely clear who the submission is from, particularly whether it is on behalf of an organisation or in the name of an individual.

3. Once accepted by the Committee, written evidence becomes the Committee’s property and it may decide to publish it or make other public use of it. If the Committee decides to accept your contribution as evidence we will email you formally accepting it as such. An acknowledgement of formal acceptance will be sent once all formalities have been completed. You may publicise or publish your submission yourself, once you receive the formal acceptance of your evidence to the Committee. When doing so, please indicate that it has been submitted to the Committee.

 4. Though the Committee is happy to receive copies of published material, formal submissions of evidence should be original work and not published elsewhere.

 5. Committee staff are happy to give more detailed guidance on giving evidence to a select committee, or further advice on any aspect of the Committee’s work, by phone or e-mail.