In February 2026 the Government published an Open Consultation with proposed changes to legislation governing motoring offences and licensing.
An Open Consultation allows the government to seek public feedback on proposed changes to laws or policies. This allows transparency with the public and provides an opportunity for participation.
Members of the public effectively get to have their say on the proposed changes, which will be taken into consideration before any changes are implemented.
The most recent Open Consultation made the following notable proposals for offences of drink and drug driving:
- A lower legal limit.
- Mandatory breath testing powers for the police.
- Reforming the “high risk offenders scheme”.
- A drug drive rehabilitation course.
- Introduction of “alcohol interlocks”.
The above proposed changes are not due to come into effect any time soon. The government have not stated that they will even make the above changes. These are changes simply in consideration at the early stages that require further feedback and consultation.
Drink Driving Historically
Introduction of Offence
It became an offence to drive whilst under the influence of alcohol in 1930 through the Road Traffic Act 1930. Those under influence of alcohol to the extent that it would cause them to not have “proper control” of the vehicle, would be committing an offence. However, this act did not specify the level of alcohol required in a person system for the offence to be committed, but merely the presence or influence of alcohol combined with lack of control over a vehicle.
This changed in 1967 through the introduction of the Road Safety Act 1967 that introduced the legal limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. This is the limit that we go by today, which equates to 35mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath and 107mg of alcohol per 100ml of urine.
This change in legislation had a significant impact on road safety, with the number of drink drive deaths per year falling from 1640 to 200 between 1979 and 2015.
Statistics Regarding Drink Driving
Since 2014 the percentage of deaths of drivers where alcohol has been detected has increased by 3%. Since 2014 the percentage of deaths of drivers where drugs have been detected has increased by 11%. As of 2023, 16% of road traffic deaths were caused by drink driving offences. That equated to an average of 260 deaths a year.
The government have stated that the depletion of deaths has plateaued since 2015, indicating that further change is needed.
Lower Legal Limit
Current Legal Limit
At present the legal limit in England and Wales for alcohol are as follows:
- 80mg (milligrammes) in 100ml (millilitres) of blood
- 35µg (microgrammes) in 100ml of breath
- 107mg in 100ml of urine
Proposal to Legal Limit
The government propose to lower these limits in line with Scotland’s limits, which are as follows:
- 50mg in 100ml of blood
- 22µg in 100ml of breath
- 67mg in 100ml of urine
Why A Lower Limit?
The government suggest that lowering the drink-drive limit, in line with Scotland’s, could reduce fatalities caused by drink-driving by 25-100 annually.
The government also believe that it would strengthen public attitudes against drink-driving, and consequently result in behavioural and societal changes.
The government in making these changes would be following in Northern Irelands’ footsteps, who also plan to lower the legal limit.
This change would take some adjustment, with the public needing to exercise further caution before deciding to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol.
The most sensible advice, regardless as to the limit, would be to not drive at all – even if you think that you may be below the limit.
Separate Limit for “Novice” and “Professional” Drivers
It should also be noted that the government plan to impose a separate drink-drive limit for “professional” and “novice” drivers (e.g. those within the first 2 years of driving). The legal limit for those drivers would be as follows:
- 20mg in 100ml of blood
- 9µg in 100ml of breath
- 27mg of alcohol in 100ml of urine
The government state that this would be due to the inexperience of novice drivers, who are typically younger drivers, and therefore their higher likelihood of “risk taking” and lower alcohol tolerance.
It is common sense why the government propose a lower limit for professional drivers. Although, many would call for a zero tolerance for such drivers.
Mandatory Breath Testing Powers For The Police
Current Criteria For Roadside Breath Tests
The police currently have the power to request a sample of breath at the roadside, following being stopped if:
- They suspect that someone is under the influence of alcohol.
- The driver has been involved in an accident.
- The driver has committed a moving traffic offence (e.g. speeding).
Proposed Changes to Criteria
However, the government propose to scrap the above criteria – introducing powers that allow the police to request a breath sample from any driver on the road.
Why The Change?
The above change would allow the police to further enforce the drink driving legislation by setting up schemes whereby they are able to stop drivers and breathalyse all drivers that they stop.
At present such schemes allows the police to stop drivers, but can only then request a sample if they have a suspicion or if the driver makes an admission to having consumed alcohol.
Such schemes are usually implemented around periods where more members of the public are likely to be consuming more alcohol than usual – such as Christmas, new year and bank holidays.
Reforming the “High Risk Offenders Scheme”
What Is The Scheme?
This scheme is targeted at those disqualified for the following offences:
- Drink driving where the breath reading is 87.5mg per 100ml of breath or higher (200mg blood and 267.5mg urine).
- Failing to provide a specimen of breath/blood/urine for analysis.
- Second offences of drink driving within a period of 10 years.
The scheme requires that those convicted of the above offences are subject to further scrutiny by the DVLA to assess whether they are medically fit to drive. This often includes a CBT (blood) test, input from the offenders GP regarding concerns over safety to drive, assessment with a DVLA doctor and a driving assessment.
The scheme is there to ensure that any outstanding issues of alcohol or dependency are resolved before an individual can return to driving.
What Changes Are Proposes?
The government propose to amend the criteria for the scheme to reflect any changes made in the drink drive legal limit.
There is therefore no proposals that have been made yet. The Open Consultation is requesting public input for the adjustments to be made. Although, it is likely that the government will also heavily rely upon input from those within medical and driving standards professions.
The government also propose introducing a high risk offenders scheme for those charged with an offence of drug driving – which is currently not in place.
A Drug Drive Rehabilitation Course
Courses for Drink Driving
Any offenders charged with an offence of drink driving can request for the Court to place them on a “rehabilitation course”. This course is paid for personally by the offender, and usually requires attendance in person or via video link, on an educational course.
These courses are supposed to assist with offender rehabilitation, preventing re-offending by education the individual on the risks of drink driving.
Attendance on such a course has a further incentive insofar that it will reduce the disqualification imposed by the court by up to 25%.
Proposed Changes
At present no such courses exist for those charged with a similar offence of “drug driving”. Those convicted of drug driving offences only continues to risk, with a 15,000 increase between 2016 and 2024.
Benefit Of A Course For Drug Driving Offences
It is clear that there is a lack of education surrounding such offences, and that individuals may benefit from attendance. We frequently see with our own clients who have no concept of how long drugs can remain in a person’s system following consumption. This can result to many individuals charged with drug driving offences, despite feeling fit and safe to do so, and driving many days after consumption.
The government therefore proposes that such a course should be created to assist with rehabilitation for those charged with a drug driving offence. The incentive of a reduction in a disqualification would ensure compliance with attendance on the course.
Introduction of “Alcohol Interlocks”
The government are recommending a provision in legislation that requires breathalysers to be installed into vehicles of those convicted of a drink driving offence. The breathalyser would prevent the car from starting unless a negative breath sample is provided.
A Freedom of Information request submitted to the police by the RAC found that 2,553 individuals had committed 3 or more drink driving offences since 2014.
This would therefore be introduced to prevent re-offending for those individuals showing a persistent disregard for the law and/or ongoing alcohol dependency or misuse.
How this change would work in practice is unclear. There would need to be a period of time set by the court for the interlock to be in place. It is also presumed that this change, if implemented, would be rolled out in set counties for trial before being implemented nationwide.
Why Have These Changes Been Made
The Minister for Local Transport, Lilian Greenwood MP, has stated that the safety of road users is a key priority for the Department of Transport with minimising fatalities and serious injury being a priority. These changes aim to serve the departments aim of protecting the public, making roads safer and reducing fatalities consequent of road traffic collisions.
Statistics on Road Safety
It is confirmed that in 2024 there were a total of 1062 deaths following road traffic collisions. This averages out at 30 deaths a week, or 4-5 deaths daily. Furthermore, there were 27,865 recorded serious injuries.
The department rightly identifies that these figures are too high and that something must be done to address the cause of many of these collisions.
Current Legislation Requiring Reform
The main legislative provisions governing motoring offences are the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.
There have been little changes made or consideration to changes to the legislation since it came into effect. Since 1988 UK roads have changed drastically with increased capacity, leading to more vehicles on the road and the introduction of further technology managing the roads.
Increase In Licensed Population
The Department of Transport published vehicle licensing statistics in 2024 that 75% of UK residents aged 17 and over held a driving licence. This equates to approximately 51 million of the 68 million recorded population.
In 1988 when the legislation was created an average of 65% of UK residents aged 17 and over held a driving licence, equating to approximately 37 million of the 57 million population.
That is an increase of approximately 20 million drivers in the 38 years since the legislation came into effect.
The government believes that the proposed changes to the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 will act as valuable deterrents and punishments, to prevent offending and thus reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads.
Have Your Say
Any member of the public can gave their say on the above proposed changes in one of the following ways:
- Responding via an online form.
- Writing to the department of transport.
- Emailing the department of transport.
You can follow the below link for further information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposed-changes-to-penalties-for-motoring-offences
