Brennan unveils breath test plan

APPROXIMATELY 120 people died last year in drink-related road crashes, the Transport Minister said yesterday as he unveiled plans to introduce random breath testing next year.

Seamus Brennan and Justice Minister Michael McDowell will move to close loopholes that could be exploited legally before giving gardaí the go-ahead to randomly test drivers.

The minister said gardaí will, from December 1, be handed the power to test drivers who commit minor traffic violations, from failing to indicate to having a broken tail light.

It is a step towards random testing, which he hopes will be in place in the first half of next year.

Currently, gardaí can only stop and test drivers if they think they have been drinking, but time and again this has been subjected to legal challenges, particularly in relation to how exactly the gardaí formulate their view.

“Minor offences can be a strong indicator a driver is not properly focused or that there is evidence of a lack of concentration,” said Mr Brennan. Critics, including civil liberty advocates, warned the new pre-Christmas regulation threatens all motorists rather than concentrating on drink-drivers and that from next year gardaí could end up wasting their time random testing the sober when they could be looking out for suspected drink-drivers.

However, Mr Brennan said: “If you are not intoxicated, then you do not have anything to worry about.

“When you consider the devastation caused by drink-driving, it’s a small price to pay”. He added that gardaí do not have to test those they stop.

“It’s a new weapon,” he added.

There is also some criticism that the already stretched resources of the gardaí will be placed under further pressure, but Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has assured Mr McDowell of his force’s full co-operation and said there was no problem with the availability of equipment, the Transport Minister explained.

He said the position in relation to drink-driving remains “worryingly unacceptable”, given that 250 people are still caught over the limit every week.

“Some 90% of blood and urine specimens and 81% of breath specimens analysed in 2002 were above the alcohol limit for driving.”