Doctors are calling for a lower limit on driving while intoxicated and claiming that the English law is outdated.
The British Medical Association (BMA) voted Tuesday to lobby for stricter rules to improve safety on the road.
The move was condemned as being “anti-alcohol”, and a blow to struggling bars.
According to the current laws in England, anyone who has more than 80 micrograms per 100 millilitres blood is above the limit.
The police say that there is no way to determine how much alcohol would reach this level, and the amount varies from person to person.
At a BMA conference, members voted to “reduce legal blood alcohol limits to the average European Nation”.
The limit in most countries, including Scotland is 50mg/100ml, which is 38 per cent less than England.
The change could criminalise any driver who has consumed alcohol.
Dr Simon Minkoff is a GP from Manchester who said that at 50mg, the reaction time and visual detection skills were already impaired.
Our law is outdated. The law is no longer based on evidence and exposes the society to unnecessary risks.
According to Department of Transport statistics, there were 85 410 fatalities from drunk-driving crashes between 2011 and 2021.
Around 200 deaths per year.
BMA chief Sir Ian Gilmore called it “scandalous”, that England and Wales has one of the highest limit in Europe.
Dr Katherine Severi from the Institute of Alcohol Studies called it “nonsensical”.
Doctors and experts who oppose the campaign say that there is absolutely no evidence to support the claim that lowering the limit will reduce accidents.
Chris Snowdon from the Institute of Economic Affairs said: “Scotland has lowered its drink-driving limit for several years.
It was expected to reduce road accidents and deaths, but later evaluations revealed that it only hurt the pub business.
This would stop people from drinking before driving, but it would also discourage them from drinking at night if they planned to drive early in the morning.
It is not a policy on road safety, but an anti-alcohol one.