Total ban on alcohol before driving unrealistic, says road safety group

Luxembourg road safety association Sécurité Routière has said that it is unrealistic to introduce a complete ban on alcohol before driving, after a public petition called for motorists to be fully sober when getting behind the wheel.

The Grand Duchy currently has a 0.5% blood alcohol limit for drivers, the same as most EU countries. However, the latest batch of public petitions to parliament, which went live on Thursday, includes one calling for the limit to be reduced to 0%, in other words a total ban on consuming alcohol prior to getting behind the wheel.

The petitioner states that even a small amount of alcohol affects drivers’ reaction times and that by making it illegal to drive after even one drink, Luxembourg would be making a strong statement that saving human lives trumps all other concerns.

Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania already have zero percentage limits, according to Sécurité Routière, while the limit is 0.2% in Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

“We prefer to be realistic and prefer to stay on 0,5%,” a Sécurité Routière spokesperson told the Luxembourg Times by email.

The new National Road Safety Plan unveiled at the end of last year is set to introduce tougher penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2023, 39 serious accidents in Luxembourg involved driving under the influence of alcohol, which remains one of the main causes of serious and fatal accidents on the country’s roads.

During its first day online, the petition had gathered 59 signatures and needs 5,500 signatures by 16 July in order to be debated in parliament.