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Lithuanian parliament to consider zero alcohol tolerance for drivers

Xinhua, December 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lithuanian Interior Ministry registered law amendments on Wednesday at the parliament that foresees zero alcohol tolerance for drivers in the Baltic country.

Under the current edition of the Law on Road Traffic Safety, zero permitted blood alcohol content limit is valid for novice drivers, as well as drivers of mopeds, motorcycles, taxi and commercial transport drivers. Currently, all other groups of drivers are allowed to have blood alcohol content of 0.4 grams per litre.

However, back in October, Lithuanian interior minister Saulius Skvernelis suggested that the country should introduce zero alcohol tolerance for drivers, in order to reduce the number of deadly accidents in Lithuanian roads caused by drivers under influence of alcohol.

Algirdas Butkevicius, Lithuanian Prime Minister, endorsed the ban of alcohol for drivers.

"I support the idea that drivers should completely abstain from alcohol; if it is possible to achieve that (zero blood alcohol content), I would endorse the proposal," Butkevicius was quoted as saying by ELTA news agency.

However, medical experts should evaluate the initiative, as blood alcohol content might appear after using certain medical products, the head of government added.

Rimante Salaseviciute, minister of health care, welcomed the proposal as "a logical step."

"We should decrease the accessibility of alcohol in all possible ways," she told reporters after governmental meeting on Wednesday.

Lithuanian authorities have been trying to reduce alcohol consumption in the country recently, due to traffic and criminal incidents related to alcohol abuse. Endit