Tougher laws lead to fewer failed breath tests
In a three-month period from the start of June this year, 396 people either failed the roadside breath test or refused to provide a sample.
Provisional Garda figures show that 6,929 mandatory alcohol test (MAT) checkpoints were manned throughout the country. Approximately 184,097vehicles passed through the checkpoints and 83,065 drivers were breath tested.
Those who failed the test or refused to give a sample was 0.48% – a significant drop from 2% when MAT checkpoints were first provided for in legislation three years ago.
Up to the end of August this year, 163 people lost their lives in road traffic collisions. This compares with 198 during the same period last year.
There were almost 29,992 collisions reported in total. .
“This includes all categories of collisions; fatal, personal injury and material damage. The figure of 29,992 collisions shows a percentage decrease of 12.7% on the same period in 2008, when 33,805 were reported,” Assistant Commissioner Eddie Rock of the Garda National Traffic Bureau said yesterday.
The autumn period was an appropriate time toremind all road users of the importance of road safety. “Schools are reopening and a change in light and road conditions require greater care by all,” he said.
A downward trend in road traffic collisions was evident over the summer months and the Assistant Garda Commissioner acknowledged “the contribution to road safety by road users who exercise care and consideration in their driving and use of our roads”.
“Voluntary compliance by road users is crucial inreducing the incidence of serious and fatal collisions. We appeal, therefore, to all drivers, to their parents, wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends and to the wider community, to remind their friends and loved ones of the need to act responsibly on our roads,” he said.
Many road users have changed their behaviour, and the trend has come about through greater compliance with traffic laws.
“For example, the vast majority of drivers and passengers now wear seat belts,” Assistant Commissioner Rock said. “In addition, drink driving is no longer socially acceptable and, as a result, designated drivers and the use of public transport have become the norm when people socialise.
“There is also most likely a significant connectionbetween the change inbehaviour and the reduced number of collisions, and indeed reduced fatalities, with the introduction of mandatory alcohol testing (MAT) checkpoints.
“We will continue with targeted enforcement to ensure that those errant road users, who place their own lives and those of other road users at risk, are made amenable for their actions.”
