Although alcohol-related traffic accidents have been decreasing throughout the European Union (EU), driving whilst under the influence of alcohol continues to be an important cause of road traffic crashes, contributing annually to at least 17,000 deaths on EU roads. The EU has the goal of halving the number of people killed on European roads from 50,000 in the year 2000 to 25,000 by 2010, and efforts to curb drink-driving can make a substantial contribution to achieving this objective. Blood Alcohol Level (BAL) in grams per litre of blood is the allowed level of alcohol in blood of drivers. Comparison of BALs of drivers in accidents with the BALs of drivers not involved in accidents find that drivers who had BALs between 0.2g/l and 0.49g/l had at least a three times greater risk of dying in a single vehicle crash. The risk increased to at least 6 times with a BAL between 0.5g/L and 0.79g/L and 11 times with a BAL between 0.8g/l and 0.99 g/L. The Commission’s Communication on alcohol calls for an enforced maximum limit of 0.5g/L or less, and notes that effective enforcement of drink-driving countermeasures could substantially reduce traffic deaths, injuries and disability by up to 25% in the case of men, and up to 10% in the case of women. Efficient policies are those that rely on the introduction and enforcement of frequent and systematic random breath testing, supported by education and awareness campaigns involving all stakeholders. The Communication also notes that lower or zero BAL limits should be introduced for young and novice drivers and, for safety reasons, also for public transport drivers and drivers of commercial vehicles. This report will describe the evidence for these policies, placing particular emphasis on the need for lower BAL levels, supported by high visibility random breath testing