Drink-driving limits under fire: Enforcement is the real issue

ANYONE ready to argue that a person should be allowed to drive after one drink can expect something pretty close to an assault from those who want zero tolerance for drink driving. 

This suggestion stands even if the person making that argument acknowledges that driving after anything more than one drink is always wrong and cannot be tolerated. This debate reaches some sort of a climax if, year-on-year, figures show that, as they have done this year, an increase in road deaths. A total of 188 people died in traffic accidents in 2016, 26 more than in 2015. Each of these deaths is a tragedy and no discussion about drink driving can pretend that is not so.

Transport Minister Shane Ross wants to cut the limit from 50mg to 20mg, effectively making it illegal to drink and drive. These are not the only relevant figures. The Garda traffic corps has just 681 officers to enforce legislation, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This means our laws are made irrelevant by a lack of enforcement. The Road Safety Authority estimates alcohol is a “contributory factor in one-in-three fatal collisions”. So what is the cause of the majority of deaths?