Breathalyser Sensors Timeline

The 1960s

The drink drive limit was introduced by the government in June 1965, coming into force in January of the following year. The existing alcohol limit of 80mg per 100 millilitres of blood was imposed in January 1966 and it became an offence to drive over the limit. Your sobriety could be put to the test by asking you to walk a straight line, touch your nose or count backwards. The first roadside alcohol breathalyser was introduced in 1967 and comprised of a disposable crystal-filled glass tube. This required the end to be broken before a mouthpiece and bag were fitted.

1970s Government Drink/Drive Law

The first government statistics released in 1979 revealed that 1640 people were killed in drink-drive incidents in that year. However, the 2003 figure was down to 560, with an estimated 20,000 lives saved over those 13 years.

The Present Day

The current drink drive limits remains the same at 80mg / 100 millilitres of blood (source: UK Department for Transport and Road Safety). That equates to two pints of normal strength beer or ONE large glass of wine. Much or Europe however, and indeed most of the USA, adheres to the limit of 50 mg/ 100 millilitres and there has been much pressure from Brussels over the last few years for the UK to reduce its drink drive limit.

Drinking & Driving Fatalities

Successful media campaigns by the government over the last couple of decades have made drink driving socially unacceptable, but despite this in 2004 alone 74,055 people were found guilty of driving with alcohol in their blood above the prescribed limit. Many of these were only slightly over the limit having been caught out by misjudging their own fitness to drive while having intended to remain within the law.