Mail Online

Alcohol pricing had ‘no impact’ on road safety

THE SNP’s flagship minimum alcohol pricing policy has failed to make Scotland’s roads safer, a study has found.

Campaigners for the levy insisted it would save lives by curbing the amount of drunk-driving.

But four years after it was introduced, a new study shows the promised benefits have not materialised.

The report by the Universities of Essex and Bath concludes: ‘We find no change in collision rates in Scotland relative to the rest of Britain, suggesting no impact of the reform.’

It is the latest research to suggest that the flagship SNP strategy – enforcing a price floor of 50p for each unit of alcohol – has failed to tackle harms linked to Scotland’s drinking culture.

The latest study looked at police data on more than two million traffic accidents across the UK between November 2009 and December 2019, shortly before the pandemic hit.

Last month, a review for Public Health Scotland found minimum pricing had failed to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed by heavy drinkers and had pushed some into greater poverty.

News

en-gb

2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/281960316535337

dmg media (UK)