Forty years after the introduction of breathtesting for drivers, the legal alcohol limit should be reduced, a safety group said today.

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) the breathtest – introduced on October 9th 1967 – has saved many lives.

But, RoSPA added that the legal limit should be lowered from 80mg per 100ml of blood to 50mg.

Before the introduction of the breath test, there were around 13,000 serious drink-related accidents a year.

By 1987, the figure dropped to 6,800 and by last year it had fallen to 2,500.

Of the 3,172 people killed last year on Britain's roads, 540 died in accidents involving illegal alcohol levels.

RoSPA head of road safety Kevin Clinton said: "RoSPA had been calling for drink-drive legislation during the 1960s because of growing evidence that alcohol played a part in many road accidents.

"At the time, more than 7,000 people were dying on Britain's roads annually and it was hoped the new law would save hundreds of lives each year. In fact, according to one report from the time, it was hoped the drink-drive hazard would be 'effectively nullified'. Sadly, this hasn't happened, and the menace of alcohol is still causing misery."

He went on: "It is now time for renewed action. RoSPA is calling for the drink-drive limit to be reduced to 50mg - a move which would save around 65 lives and 230 serious injuries on Britain's roads each year.

"Between 50mg and 80mg, you are two to two-and-a-half times more likely to be involved in an accident and six times more likely to be in a fatal crash than with no alcohol in your system.

"RoSPA believes that lowering the legal limit would pave the way for a new education campaign to raise awareness of the seriousness of drink driving. RoSPA will be participating in a Government consultation on drink-drive laws later this year."