Bereaved mum says drink-drive limit should be zero
BBCA mother whose daughter was killed by a drink and drug driver has said the alcohol limit for motorists needs to be zero after the government proposed a reduction in its road safety strategy.
Claire Reynolds' daughter Sharlotte Naglis, six, died when John Owen's car mounted a pavement and struck her in Stoke-on-Trent in June 2021.
He was found to have had twice the legal limit of cocaine and alcohol in his system and was jailed for more than six years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
Under the government's strategy launched on Wednesday, the drink drive limit would be reduced from 35 to 22mcgs per 100ml of breath.
But Reynolds told BBC Breakfast: "I think it needs to be zero – zero tolerance and that's it. You don't have alcohol and drive."
She said the amount of alcohol affects every person differently, adding that it could depend on factors like whether people have eaten or their weight.
Since her daughter's death, Reynolds has also been campaigning on a change to the law over testing the blood of people suspected of drink and drug driving.
Her proposed change, known as Sharlotte's Law, which has been included in the government's strategy, would allow suspects' blood to be tested without consent following a fatal incident.
Owen was injured and in a coma for 11 weeks following the crash and Reynolds said his blood could not be tested during that time.
She said the period she had to wait before getting answers was a "dark time" and she often thought she would never get justice.
"It shouldn't have to be down to him to get those answers or not," she added. "Police should be able to just get them."
Reynolds, from Stoke-on-Trent, said more people needed to think about what could happen if they drink any alcohol before driving and how the potential consequences affect families.
"It's not just the life they take - it's my life, it's the family's lives," she said.
"I struggle every day, I struggle so much with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], depression, anxiety and my life is not the same."
Owen, who was 46 and living at The Square, Oakamoor, at the time, was jailed for six years and two months in October 2022.
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