JUSTICE Secretary Kenny MacAskill has rejected calls for drivers to be treated more leniently in the early days of the new drink-drive limit - claiming the existing 12-month ban is still appropriate.
Holyrood formally approved measures to reduce the legal limit in Scotland from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml of blood yesterday, with the new limit being introduced on December 5, in time for the festive season.
Despite calls by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents for a six-month ban to be put in place at first, Mr MacAskill told MSPs: "We are clear that the current automatic 12-month driving ban is appropriate at the current limit and will remain appropriate at the lower limit.
"There is strong evidence that drivers with a blood alcohol reading of between 50mg and 80mg are significantly impaired and an automatic ban is appropriate to deter people from drinking and driving."
A public awareness campaign is already under way to alert motorists to the forthcoming change. TV and radio adverts were aired yesterday.
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