NZ’s drink drive laws changed today.

For the record the new limit is not 62.5% of the old one (down from 400mcg of alcohol per litre of breath to 250mcg … and down from 80mg of alcohol per litre of blood to 50mg).

For most people it seems that 2 pints of beer or 2 glasses of wine just sneaks under the limit (depending on food intake, mood etc.) for others it may even be less than this?

So there will be a lot of quieter, or shorter parties, in NZ from now on, and a lot more use of taxis.

Argument 1 says this lower limit will capture the relative innocents, not the real offenders who are often several times the limit.

Argument 2 says that NZ’s road accidents from alcohol are far too high so something had to be done.

A few years ago I bought a breathalyser as a joke. I think I’ll put it in the car for use in time of doubt, not that we drink much these days.