Call to cut blood alcohol limit 'ill-informed'

The Hotels Association says any decision to change the blood alcohol limit must be evidence based.

The Australian Hotels Association says calls to lower the blood alcohol limit for drivers is ill-informed.

Victoria Police Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill is campaigning to cut the blood alcohol limit for drivers from 0.05 to 0.02 per cent, to cut the road toll.

He says a similar decision in Sweden saw the level of fatalities and serious injuries on the road drop by ten per cent.

Australian Hotel's Association chief executive Brian Kearney says any change needs to be evidence-based.

"[The] Australian Hotel Association always takes the view that any proposal should be evidence based because otherwise we just move toward this nanny state environment," he said.

Mr Kearney says a lower blood alcohol limit has not worked everywhere.

"The fact is that the 0.02 also applies in Poland, which is recorded as having one of the worst road safety records in the OECD, with trauma and deaths relating to driving twice that of Australia," he said.

"They seem to be picking the upside without fully evaluating the evidence."

Source: ABC News, 14 September 2012