NEARLY half of Scots motorists believe that the drink drive limit for young and novice drivers should be zero, according to a new survey.
Four in 10 Scottish drivers questioned said they would support an outright alcohol ban on new drivers in line with many other European nations.
Scots were among the most likely to support the policy, second only to motorists in the North East of England.
In Scotland, 39 per cent of respondents backed zero tolerance compared to 43 per cent in North East England and 32 per cent across the UK as a whole.
The UK's "universal" approach to drink driving limits contrasts markedly with many other leading European nations including Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, where lower restrictions for young and novice motorists are imposed.
Analysis of World Health organisation data reveals that 29 per cent of the 51 countries covered in its Global Status Report on Road Safety currently have a tiered system like this in place.
At present, the drink drive limit in Scotland is 50mg of alcohol for every 100ml of blood, and 80mg for the rest of the UK, with limits applied universally, regardless of experience or age.
The survey of more than 2000 UK adults, carried out by insurer Direct Line, found that only 14 per cent - in both Scotland and the UK as a whole - were in favour of the existing universal system.
In Scotland, most drivers (39 per cent) supported switching to a tiered system with a zero limit for young and novice drivers.
In comparison, the majority of drivers UK-wide (36 per cent) preferred zero tolerance for all motorists, which would make consuming any alcohol at all before driving illegal. This is currently the case in countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
There was also some support for a tiered system that would make the drink drive limit for young and novice drivers lower than for more experienced drivers. In Scotland, 13 per cent of respondents favoured this compared to 18 per cent in the UK overall.
A breakdown by age group also revealed that 53 per cent of motorists aged 18 to 34 backed either zero tolerance or a lower drink drive limit for young and newly qualified drivers.
Gus Park, director of motoring at Direct Line said: "England, Wales and Northern Ireland boast one of the most permissive driver Blood Alcohol Concentration limits in Europe, but there is widespread popular support for lowering this, especially for young and novice motorists.
"With many other European nations adopting a zero tolerance approach to drink driving and Scotland reducing the legal drink-drive limit by over a third in December, it may only be a matter of time before the rest of the union introduces tougher drink driving controls.
"The fact that the majority of people aged 18-34 support a zero tolerance approach to drink driving, or lower limits for less experienced drivers, demonstrates a commitment by the younger generation themselves for tighter restrictions."
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