One drink driver caught every 30 minutes

GARDAÍ are catching drunk drivers at a rate of one every half hour in the run-up to Christmas.

Last week, 376 people failed the standard drink-driving test. The figure was marginally down on the first week of the month when the gardaí kicked off a seasonal road safety campaign.

The garda press office said this would remain a provisional figure until blood tests have been returned and cases are contested in court.

However, over the Christmas period it said gardaí would continue to clamp down on people driving under the influence. Figures are expected to be up this year owing to the introduction of random testing.

Meanwhile, the Road Safety Authority said it would consider suggestions on lowering the legal alcohol limit as part of an ongoing public consultation process.

Its spokesman, Brian Farrell, said the authority was in the process of investigating points made from a large number of interested parties, but it would not make any rash policy decisions.

“At the moment it is a case that we have got a suggestion for us to back a lower legal limit for alcohol, but it is just one of the considerations we have got.”

Among the parties who have made recommendations to the RSA ahead of the production of a new five-year road safety strategy is the Automobile Association (AA).

In its submission it questioned the benefits of prioritising the random breath testing of people driving to work in the morning instead of those on the road between midnight and 5am.

“In the AA’s view it should be a priority for (alcohol testing) to be focused on the times and places where drink related collisions are shown to be occurring. The use of (alcohol testing) during the hours of 7am and 10am, a time associated with commuters, may be legitimate but road safety data confirms that it should not be prioritised.”

The AA also said commercial vehicles should be put through a more rigorous testing regime in line with the National Car Test.

It said ongoing inspections should be carried out on goods trucks because it was concerned about the lack of emphasis being put on their safety.

“The inspection of vehicles, trailers and loads is far below the standard required. There is clear evidence of good vehicles travelling well in excess of the speeds that they should have their engines limited to.

“While this is a worry in itself it is more worrying to consider less visible defects that are escaping detection.”

The list of recommendations compiled by the AA was among the ideas considered at a two-day brain storming session last week.