Drink-drive deaths drop

The number of deaths caused by drunk-driving has dropped by 18%.

Figures from the Department for Transport show that 460 deaths were caused by drunk drivers in 2007 - down from 560 deaths in 2006.

The number of serious injuries has also fallen from 1970 in 2006 to 1760 last year, a drop of 11%.

It's not all good news, though. Total injuries rose slightly, from 14,370 to 14,480, and the overall number of accidents involving a driver over the legal limit has risen by 2%.

There's growing pressure on the Government to revise the current drink-drive limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. A limit of 50 milligrams is more common in mainland Europe.

However, road safety group Brake believes the government should go further and drop the limit to just 20 milligrams.

'It's good news that the number of deaths in drink-drive crashes where drivers were over the legal limit fell in 2007 compared to 2006, but the figures dont tell the whole story,' said Cathy Keeler, Brake's head of campaigns.

'Even more deaths are associated with drivers who are not over the limit, but have a significant amount of alcohol in their system and academics have estimated that setting a lower limit could save dozens of lives each year.'