Drug testing of drivers to become law
Currently, it is an offence to drive under the influence of drugs but it is up to gardai to prove that in court.
Last year, a driver in Cork, who admitted to smoking two joints of cannabis, had his case dismissed due to lack of evidence.
New legislation will enable gardaí conduct roadside tests for drugs, like a breathalyser test. The Medical Bureau of Road Safety is in the process of buying the devices, which are expected to be in use by the end of 2015.
Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe said the development will bring clarity to the area for the first time.
“By bringing in this legislation, we will be able to underpin the use of devices by roadsides, make them mandatory and put them on a completely solid legal footing,” he said.
Mr Donohoe is bringing details of the Road Traffic Bill 2014 to cabinet for approval in the next few weeks.
To date, 23,596 people have been killed on Irish roads since records began in 1959, with a further 76,586 receiving serious, life-changing injuries between 1977 and 2013.
So far this year there have been 166 road deaths.
Moyagh Murdock, chief executive of the RSA, said it can be hard to imagine the real lives behind the statistics. “For thousands of families around the country, their lives are forever changed as a result of a collision. We can save lives on our roads, and we can make our roads as safe as the safest roads in the world, but we can’t do it unless we all work together,” she said.
To mark the day of remembrance, the RSA urged people to consider their behaviour on the roads in respect to those who have died.
Michael O’Neill lost his 21-year-old daughter Fiona and her 23-year-old boyfriend Dominic Wogan in a road crash in 2001. They were preparing to travel to Australia on the day of the collision. He has recorded a radio message to mark World Remembrance Day to be broadcast this week.
- For more information , go to www.rsa.ie or www.facebook.com/RSAireland.
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