Sir Liam Donaldson, Britain's chief medical officer, has called for the legal alcohol limit for operating a motor vehicle to be reduced to zero.

It is believed that reducing the limit to zero would result in far fewer accidents on the road, greatly improving road safety. Many are worried that the law is misleading as it stands, with people misjudging how much they can drink and be safe to drive.

Currently, it is legal to drive a car with 35 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milligrams of blood, or after consuming one unit.

However, many people are unaware how much one unit is, especially as many pubs serve wine in large glasses which contain, in some cases, as many as three units.

There is also the consideration that alcohol affects people in different ways, particularly young people who are generally less experienced drinkers and smaller in general than older people, making it harder for their body to absorb alcohol.

If the legal alcohol level was reduced to zero, it could also have the added benefit of lowering the cost of car insurance, particularly for young people.

Young people are more likely to have an accident than older more experienced drivers and also more likely to be caught drink driving. If the law was clearer and accidents reduced as a result, car insurance could become a lot cheaper.

Government statistics show that around 14 young drivers and their passengers die in motoring accidents every single week.

Sir Liam Donaldson had this to say: "We know that even without alcohol young people are more likely to have an accident because they are inexperienced drivers, and then even with them driving within the alcohol limit they are much more likely to have an accident than an older driver.”