§ Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknishasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the permissible levels of alcohol in the blood for breathalyser tests for motorists in the United Kingdom. Italy, Germany. France and Spain; and how many motorists failed the test in each of the countries in the last three years.
§ Baroness HaymanThe legal blood alcohol level for motorists in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Spain is 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood; in France the legal level is 50 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. Legislation to reduce the limit in Germany to 50 milligrammes is currently before the Federal Parliament and Spain is also considering a reduction in its legal limit to 50 milligrammes.
Table 1 below gives the number of breath tests conducted in England and Wales during the latest three years for which the figures are available, and the number of tests which were positive (above the limit) or where a driver refused to take a test. The figures for Northern Ireland for 1995 and 1996 are set out in Table 2 (Prior to 1995 these figures were not available in that form). The figures for Scotland are not available. Table 3 contains the data for France over the period 1994 to 1996.
52WA
Table 1: Breath tests, England and Wales Number of breath tests Number positive/refused 1994 678,500 93,300 1995 702,700 94,400 1996 781,100 100,500
Table 2: Breath tests, Northern Ireland Number of breath tests Number positive/refused 1995 7,643 1,773 1996 9,390 2,192
Table 3: Breath tests, France Number of breath tests Number positive 1994 6,157,421 63,162 1995 6,542,198 67,940 1996 6,180,325 71,048 Source: Observatoire National Interministériel de Sécurité Routière.
The equivalent information for the other countries is unavailable or could be obtained only at disproportionate expense.