The introduction of a lower blood alcohol limit for drivers of motor vehicles in Denmark did not lead the following year to the expected decrease in the number of fatal accidents. Inger Marie Bernhoft from Denmark’s Institute for Transport Research thinks that a longer period of time will probably be necessary before any effect is seen.

On 1 March 1998 the permitted blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for drivers of motor vehicles in Denmark was reduced from 0.08% to 0.05%.
Interviews indicate a perceptible decrease in the number of units that drivers consume within the two hours before the car journey. The percentage of drivers who drank a maximum of 1 unit of alcohol before starting the journey rose from 71% before the change in the law to 80% afterwards.
However, this changed behaviour did not lead, during the first year, to any sudden reduction in the numbers of serious accidents with drink-drivers behind the wheel compared with other types of serious accidents. On the contrary, the numbers of fatal accidents involving drunk drivers, compared with other types of fatal accident, actually rose during that period. The number of convictions of drunk drivers rose slightly between 1997 and 1999 as a result of the reduced permitted blood alcohol limit value, but a significant shift was also recorded from higher to lower alcohol concentrations.
Bernhoft concludes from this data that only slight changes can be detected in the total number of accidents involving drink-drivers, before and after the change in the law. However, it is also her considered opinion that 12 months is too short a period of time in which to be able to draw any meaningful conclusions.

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