Drivers are to be breathalysed for any motoring offences

Tayside Chief Constable John Vine said the blood alcohol limit should be lowered from the current level of 80mg in 100ml to 50mg in 100ml.

Earlier this week, Scotland's doctors also called for politicians to support stricter drink-driving limits.

Police chiefs are meeting in Dundee to launch a policy to breathalyse motorists for any driving offence.

The announcement, which coincides with the Festive Drink-Drug Driving Safety Campaign, means that drivers will be breath-tested after being stopped for offences such as speeding or holding a mobile phone.

While the policy of breathalysing motorists for driving offences is already in place, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) said that it has not been used to its fullest extent.

We need to address this issue sooner rather than later John Vine Tayside Police

Mr Vine, who speaks on road policing for the association, said senior officers would back a change in legislation to lower the drink-drive limit.

He said Scotland and the rest of the UK were among a small group of European nations that had still not lowered the blood alcohol count.

Incidents of drink-driving in Scotland have increased from 750 between 2004 and 2005 to 849 between 2006 and 2007.

Mr Vine said: "With incidents of drink-driving up for the third year in a row, we need to address this issue sooner rather than later."

Willie Wills, road safety manager in Scotland for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said the move would make it clear to motorists that drink-driving was unacceptable.

He added: "In an ideal world, we would reach the new year and the conclusion of this enforcement campaign with no one having been arrested for drink-driving and no-one having been injured or killed by a driver who has taken alcohol.

"Regrettably, that is unlikely to be the case."

Getting caught

Michael McDonnell, director of Road Safety Scotland, said that drivers needed to realise that the risk of getting caught drink-driving was increasing.

Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said that the Scottish Government was taking the issue very seriously.

He said: "While the police continue to enforce the law, we recognise that as a country we have a serious problem with alcohol that we must urgently address.

"Although drink-driving limits across western Europe have been reduced, in Scotland the same limit has been in place for 40 years.