AA and Safety Council welcome new Road Traffic Bill

The AA and the National Safety Council have welcomed new road safety legislation that Transport Minister Martin Cullen is bringing before the Cabinet today.

The Road Traffic Bill paves the way for a ban on the use of mobile phones while driving and the mandatory breath-testing of motorists.

It will also give motorists who are over the legal limit the option of accepting an on-the-spot fine and an automatic six-month disqualification rather than going to court and facing a potentially more stringent penalty.

AA spokesman Conor Faughnan said the measures should help tackle drink-driving and reduce the amount of cases that are challenged in the courts.

Brian Farrell from the National Safety Council, meanwhile, said he believed the new laws would help to change driver behaviour, which is blamed for many road crashes.

"Unfortunately, we don't seem to be able to do it on a voluntary basis," he said.

"The stick of enforcement has to come in and has to play a role in this if we're not, as a society, prepared to make a voluntary change."