Strong Support for Lowering Drink-Drive Limit

70% of New Zealanders support lowering the drink-drive limit to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, and support increases once they find out how much the average person can drink before exceeding the current limit.

The findings are from UMR Research’s latest Online survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 New Zealanders aged 18 years and over .

Asked how much the average person could drink before exceeding the current 80mg limit, 9% of men and 7% of women overestimated the amount.

The numbers suggest that, if the limit were lowered to 50mg, many people would set a personal maximum of either two (for men) or one (for women) standard drink.

Once given the Ministry of Transport’s estimates of how much the average person could drink before exceeding the 80mg limit, 76% favour lowering the limit to 50mg.

ENDS