Calls for a zero blood-alcohol limit after four children tragically killed

Medical and trauma experts are calling for a mandatory zero blood-alcohol level to be introduced for all drivers on Australian roads after four children were killed while walking on a Sydney footpath on Saturday.

In the wake of the tragedy caused by an alleged drink driver, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is leading the call to reduce the legal blood-alcohol limit to zero.

The college’s National Trauma Committee chair Dr John Crozier has pointed to countries overseas with stricter enforcement on the issue as evidence that a zero limit can reduce road deaths.

“I think it’s right as you look at this tragedy that any further way of reducing the risk of ­alcohol affecting the behaviour of the driver — and it does — should be explored,” he told News Corp Australia on Sunday.

“We have it as a requirement for all commercial drivers and in poignant deaths like this, it’s reasonable to further explore whether we should have a zero blood-alcohol requirement for all drivers.”