Don’t lower the alcohol limit, says independent TD

THE Government’s plans to reduce the drink-driving limit will signal “the final nail in the coffin of rural Ireland,” independent TD Jackie Healy-Rae claimed yesterday.

Motorists, it emerged, are facing the risk of being found over the limit if they have just one pint of beer or one glass of wine in the near future.

The new Road Safety Strategy, due to be unveiled tomorrow by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Transport Minister Noel Dempsey, will see the current limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood being reduced to 50mg per 100ml.