The legal blood-alcohol limit for a driver in Canberra on this day in 1990 was 0.08, rather than the 0.05 we have today.
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And it was a good thing motorists had that limit, as three times as many would have been charged if the 0.05 limit had applied.
According to the police, of more than 24,000 drivers who were randomly breath tested over the previous weeks, 111 had been charged with exceeding the 0.08 limit. Had the legal limit been 0.05, the number charged would have been about 350.
The ACT region's commander, Don McCulloch, said police knew there were "a hell of a lot" of drivers reading between 0.05 and 0.08.
"I think I speak for the region when I say I would like to see the limit at least at 0.05," he said.
Canberra drivers had been warned that the limit would be lowered, but it had not been determined when.
The executive director of the Road Safety Council of the ACT, Mr Dale Yeaman, said random testing had been integral in reducing alcohol related road fatalities, with a reduction from 50 per cent to about 37 per cent.
Despite this, the reduced legal limit would assist in preventing more road fatalities as alcohol was still the main identifiable factor in road deaths.
