A senior Angus solicitor has warned motorists not to rely on DIY breathalyser kits after a drink or risk losing their licence.
Robin Beattie of Thorntons said there is “no surefire way” to make sure motorists who have been drinking will be under the new legal limit.
Speaking four months after the new rules came into force, Mr Beattie said the new law has seen a drop in the number of drivers being caught over the limit.
Mr Beattie, who regularly represents clients at courts throughout Scotland, said: “Last year, Scotland was introduced to new legislation lowering the legal drink-drive limit from 80mg to 50mg in every 100ml of blood.
“Holyrood used their devolved powers to bring Scottish law in line with that which operates for drink-drivers in many European countries, leaving the rest of the UK with the joint highest limit in Europe.
“Four months have now passed since the new rules came into force. What changes have we seen in Scotland over that time?
“Firstly, you might have thought that the new law would see an increase in drivers being caught over the limit, since the legal limit has dropped.
“What we have actually seen has been quite the contrary.
“Over the festive period, Police Scotland stopped no less than 17,504 drivers for alcohol testing 351 of these drivers were over the limit which is roughly one drink driver in every 50 drivers tested.
“This represents a reduction of 19% from the 2013 festive period, at which time around one in every 47 drivers tested were over the limit (434 from 20,646).
“These figures should therefore be welcomed with open arms.
“Switzerland similarly reduced their limit from 80mg to 50mg back in 2005 and since that time they have noticed a reduction in the number of alcohol related road deaths by an average of 65 people a year.”
Mr Beattie said Scottish Government figures have, however, revealed that drivers are now five times more likely to be caught driving “just over” the new legal limit the morning after having consumed alcohol.
He said: “There is no surefire way to make sure that, if you have been drinking, you will be under the new limit. Last year, during the peak of the media frenzy surrounding this topic, there were reports of a soar in sales of home breathalyser tests.
“Online calculators are also becoming very popular, in which you can enter your age, gender, weight, height, together with the number of alcoholic units consumed and at what time of day you stopped drinking.
“These are at best unreliable.”