Road deaths - Random breath tests saving lives

Last year the death rate on our roads increased and continued to rise during the early part of this year. The fear instilled by the introduction of the points system had obviously waned, because so many people were able to evade the system.

Since the introduction of random breath testing during the summer, however, there has been a distinct drop in the number of road fatalities. Gardaí have at times adopted a high profile, probably with the main aim of warning people not to drive after consuming alcohol.

Assistant Commissioner Eddie Rock announced that the gardaí would be especially active on the roads over the long weekend. He predicted that 400 drivers would be arrested for drink driving offences, but that figure was exceeded by early yesterday evening. By then, 418 had been arrested. Some people simply do not get the message.

Arrests in Cork City and County were up by 70% by yesterday afternoon on the same weekend last year. This probably says more about past bad habits than any deterioration in driving practices.

Many of those arrested possibly could not have been breathalysed under the old law. The change should therefore be warmly welcomed. It is important for the safety of everybody in society that the culture of drink driving is finally eradicated.

Too many innocent people have died already.