While there is an assumption that the alcohol limits in many of South Africa’s key source markets are as severe as new legislation that the Department of Transport is hoping to bring about, this is not the case.After Tourism Update published an article on the impact this legislation could have on the hospitality sector, a number of readers commented that most European countries, including Sweden and Germany, have a zero limit.

One of the amendments in the National Road Traffic Amendment Bill, which is still subject to public consultation, proposes that no person may drive a vehicle while there is any trace of alcohol in their bloodstream. At the moment, South African law allows for a limit up to 0.05g of alcohol per 100ml.

Tourism Update fact checked and could not find another significant source market with a zero limit. With the exception of Sweden, all were the same, or up to 60 % higher than the current permissable level in SA.

A zero limit would be stricter than the US, UK, Germany and France, which all allow for a small concentration of alcohol in the blood of a driver. The limits in are 0.08% in the US and 0.05% in Germany and France respectively.

The limit is 0.08% for the UK, with the exception of Scotland where the limit is 0.05%. Sweden has one of the lowest limits, with anything including and above 0.02% deemed illegal.

Because of the number of medicines that contain alcohol, sometimes as much as 12.5 %, a zero limit could mean that people taking medicine could unwittingly break the law.