Drivers could face zero tolerance on drink-driving with just one pint of beer putting them over the limit, it emerged tonight.
Under new proposals to tighten the law, legal blood-alcohol levels could be dramatically reduced to match continental Europe with a single drink enough to fail a breath test.
Ursula Quinn, campaigner with the Hidden Victims of Road Deaths charity, backed plans for an outright drink ban for motorists.
“Unfortunately there is a hardcore of older drivers who have got away with it for a very long time,” she said.
“I would be saying total zero tolerance, that way there is no confusion. People can’t say I’ll have one pint or a half pint or a shandy, because it’s diluted, they’ll just say I don’t drink and drive.
“I think there is still confusion over what you can and cannot drink.”
Mrs Quinn’s 19-year-old daughter was killed in a high speed car in the Irish Republic as she travelled to university in Cork in September 2002 and has since campaigned on road safety with the PSNI.
Alcohol and drugs is blamed for an average of 25 deaths and 119 serious injuries a year on the roads in Northern Ireland.
Consultation on proposed stricter drink-driving limits, tougher penalties and revised police powers will be opened tomorrow by Environment Minister Sammy Wilson.