There’s less than a week left to have a say on lowering the drink drive limit.

Dorset’s Police & Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill launched a public consultation in December and this ends on Saturday.

While Scotland saw its drink drive limit lowered in December 2014 to 50 milligrams per 100ml of blood, the 80 milligram limit set in the 1967 Road Safety Act remains in place in England and Wales.

This is despite a review of drink driving law in 2010 by Sir Peter North who made a recommendation for a reduction to a 50mg legal limit.

Mr Underhill intends to continue to lobby the Government to rethink the issue and lower the limit.

He said: “The law should give drivers conclusive guidance.The problem with having the most generous legal drink drive threshold in Europe is that it encourages motorists to “have a few” and “chance it”.

“It’s a fact that any blood alcohol content affects the way that you drive. Be it through lack of attention, speed of reaction or just increased bravado, permitting drinking before driving creates risk and we should not underestimate the impact that the current limit has on road safety.”

In 2016, alcohol was recorded as a contributory factor in 26 collisions in Dorset. Of these, at least 4 serious injury collisions involved motorists who had alcohol present in their blood, but at a level below the current legal limit.

Limitations with data recording may mean that in reality, the number of collisions involving drivers impaired by alcohol is far higher. For example, samples are not taken when individuals are too badly injured at the time of a collision, and under Home Office rules, police are only required to record results when motorists fail a roadside breath test.

Department for Transport figures recently showed that alcohol-related collisions resulted in 9,050 casualties in 2016, up by 7 per cent in 12 months.

Mr Underhill added: “I am convinced that a lower limit where one drink could cost you your licence sends a clearer message. With fatalities and injuries on the rise and traffic officer numbers in decline due to police funding cuts, we need drink drive legislation to more effectively deter motorists from drinking at all before getting behind the wheel.”

Have your say on the consultation at surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VMLSKQW