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Amazing as it may seem, from 1 July this year, if you take your car over to France, you must have a breathalyser on board. That's in addition to the fluorescent vest, warning triangle, GB sticker and adjusted headlights.
As if people aren't tempted to stretch the law in foreign parts, this stretches temptation to the extreme. I really can't think of anything dafter than the Government encouraging its citizens to drive just inside the limit. The plain fact is that if you get behind the wheel of any vehicle, then you shouldn't drink.
French drivers already have to have a breathalyser in their vehicles and, from November, if a British driver doesn't have one they'll face an ?11 fine.
Apparently, a one-off breathalyser kit will suffice and they'll be available at one or two quid at ferry and tunnel terminals. The French drink-drive limit is lower at 50 mg per 100 ml of blood compared with the UK limit of 80 mg per 100 ml of blood, which doesn't help matters.
Mind you, if you are tempted to have a tipple, then you'll need at least two single-use breathalyser kits as you have to show the police an unused one if you're stopped.
Whether the increase in those caught is down to cuts in road safety campaigns is unclear, but the need to crank up the message that drink-driving is unacceptable is clear.
And worse still is the fact that one in nine young drivers admit to consuming illegal drugs and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. And three per cent of drivers aged between 17 and 24 admit to doing so once a month!
The law on driving while under the influence of drugs is not nearly as clear as drink-driving legislation. Currently, it's an offence to drive while impaired by drugs so police have to prove that to win a prosecution.
Quite rightly, road safety charity Brake is campaigning for the law to be tightened and for approval to be given to roadside drugalysers so police can detect offenders immediately.
And where does the above affect fleet policy? Many organisations employ young people and, even if they are not eligible for a company car, a fair proportion will be grey fleet drivers occasionally or regularly 'at work' on the road.
While I'm against people being forced by legislation to carry a breathalyser in their vehicle as a matter of principle - you should be encouraging drivers to not drink and drive at all, not drink a little bit and drive - perhaps there is a role for breathalysers and drugalysers in managing fleets.
With duty of care still so high up the boardroom agenda, occasional spot checks on drivers before they leave or when they arrive at a work location may not be a bad idea and send out all the right messages. However, I can already hear the cries about invasion of personal privacy!
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