Despite Britain having one of the highest thresholds for drink-driving limits across the world, new research from Confused.com has found that the UK has the lowest rate of drink-driving related deaths across the globe.
The study, which looked at every country’s blood-alcohol content (BAC) limit and their maximum penalties for fines, driving suspension and prison sentences for drink-driving offenders. Each country was scored out of 80 for the severity of their punishments.
Coupled with the number of drink-driving deaths in every country, the data gathered shows in which countries the best approaches for harsher or more lenient punishments affects the rate of drink-driving deaths.
The UK scored a mere 11/80 on the study, suggesting the drink-driving penalties are no where near as harsh as Uzbekistan’s, who scored 61/80. Which is why it may come as a surprise that the UK sees the lowest rate of drink-driving related deaths around the world. Could it be that drivers are less likely to rebel against more lenient laws?
Some of the more revealing discoveries made are as follows:
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The UK has a BAC above the European average of 0.05% and well-above the WHO recommended 0.02% level, but has one of the lowest rates of drink-driving deaths at 3.1 per 100,000 people
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Canada, which has one of the harshest prison sentences for offenders at a max of 10 years, sees 5.8 deaths per 100,000 people as a result of drink-driving
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Turkey, which scored 36/47 on the index countries analysed, had an average of 12.3 deaths per 100,000 people – the lowest in Europe
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Germany, which scored the lowest on the index with 10/80 points given for the severity of their laws, only averaged 4.1 per 100,000 deaths
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The country analysed with the highest death rate for drink-driving was Dominican Republic at 34.6 per 100,000 people, followed by Thailand at 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people
Source: Confused.com