"Make mine a double" - Gov. to slash drink drive penalties to boost publicans trade

[White Horse]

Motorists caught just over the drink driving limit will be able to slash their time off the road by six months if they voluntarily hand over a driving licence.
Transport Minister Noel Dempsey yesterday said that under new laws anyone who handed in their licence after being found to have a blood alcohol level of between 80mg and 100mg would not have to go to court.
The measure will form part of the Road Traffic Bill.
New laws let over-the-limit motorists halve time off road - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie

FF backbenchers are piling on pressure to maintain the blood alcohol level limits at 80mg. However, they (along with the Vintners Federation) must be happy with the proposal to reduce the potential length of a ban by 50%.

[silvernut]

Sure you may save a few lives with higher limit's, but think of the publicans! Won't someone PLEASE think of the publicans!!!

[odie1kanobe]

This proposal in many ways ensures driver gets penalty immediately and admits guilt immediately. Importantly gets them off the road now rather than waiting 6 months or whatever for a court case, then an appeal on some minor point thought up by an ambulance chasing lawyer. Its a good idea if removes cases from the court.

Given DD record they will get caught again.

[HanleyS]

I've come around to a different point of view on this issue as a result of my time in Australia. The reason being that enforcement is a lot more stringent down here but the penalties are less severe.

I think that Gardai are loath to enforce drink driving legislation because of the profound effect it can have on a person. If penalties were less then the Gardai might be quicker to enforce the rules.

I personally would be in favour of more enforcement but lower penalties in terms of points. The revenue gathered would surely pay for the enforcement. I think we need to be realistic that people do make mistakes and have indiscretions. If the road rules were to be strictly enforced with the current penalties there would be no traffic on the roads at all.

In NSW a couple of thousand people per week have their licence suspended but the difference is that it's only a three month suspension. More than enough to pause for thought about ones behaviour. There should be re-training after a number of suspensions and an outright ban for excessive number of suspensions.

As for reducing the blood alcohol limit, personally I think that if you're going to drive you shouldn't drink at all. One always leads to another or at least the temptation for one. A zero blood alcohol limit with a small margin for error would be fine with me.

[Keith-M]

Do we really wants the courts clogged up wuith people between 80mg and 100mg? This sounds like a very positive move to me.

[just_society2]

I think the laws we have are good enough, I agree the penalties could be reduced as above to encourage Gardaí to be less concerned about the effect the penalty would have, and I think the limit is OK also.

We do need more enforcement though, most people my age rarely have more than one drink if likely to drive within 2-3 hours. But many aged 50+ bend the rules far more often. (Two drinks instead of one, rainy night so i'll chance it etc.)

[Mr Boxing]

[QUOTE=HanleyS;1858524]

I personally would be in favour of more enforcement but lower penalties in terms of points. The revenue gathered would surely pay for the enforcement. I think we need to be realistic that people do make mistakes and have indiscretions. If the road rules were to be strictly enforced with the current penalties there would be no traffic on the roads at all.

In NSW a couple of thousand people per week have their licence suspended but the difference is that it's only a three month suspension. More than enough to pause for thought about ones behaviour. There should be re-training after a number of suspensions and an outright ban for excessive number of suspensions.


Well said hanleyS. This would certainly be the way forward in Ireland.

[Aindriu]

I've come around to a different point of view on this issue as a result of my time in Australia. The reason being that enforcement is a lot more stringent down here but the penalties are less severe.

I think that Gardai are loath to enforce drink driving legislation because of the profound effect it can have on a person. If penalties were less then the Gardai might be quicker to enforce the rules.

I personally would be in favour of more enforcement but lower penalties in terms of points. The revenue gathered would surely pay for the enforcement. I think we need to be realistic that people do make mistakes and have indiscretions. If the road rules were to be strictly enforced with the current penalties there would be no traffic on the roads at all.

In NSW a couple of thousand people per week have their licence suspended but the difference is that it's only a three month suspension. More than enough to pause for thought about ones behaviour. There should be re-training after a number of suspensions and an outright ban for excessive number of suspensions.

As for reducing the blood alcohol limit, personally I think that if you're going to drive you shouldn't drink at all. One always leads to another or at least the temptation for one. A zero blood alcohol limit with a small margin for error would be fine with me.

I would agree with the above with the exception of the last paragraph. A zero limit would trap those drivers who have had a couple of glasses of wine the night before. How would you define a small margin of error? Everyone metabolises alcohol at different rates so one person may still be over the limit after a couple of glasses of wine the night before whilst another would be grand after 10 pints the night before.

[MsAnneThrope]

Why do we pay for reports and studies and have a dedicated agency in the RSA when the Government takes its lead from elsewhere, bowing to fierce opposition to measures designed to make our roads safer?

We've just been through 2 consecutive budgets where alcohol wasn't touched (with the paltry exception of 50c on wine only). When did this ever happen in the history of the State? 2 consecutive budgets and the most reliable of all Irish reliables is untouched. Easier to increase the VAT rate instead of upsetting the IVF. Puppets to their masters. We spend over €7 billion a year on alcohol in this country, more than we spend on food, and yet the Government still takes its lead from the all powerful IVF and others on policy, who employ very well connected consultants in the process. In budgets where we're told "everything is on the table" how come drink isn't touched?

In Ireland, if someone thinks they can legally have 2 drinks, they'll have 5 instead of 8. Tell them they can only have 1 drink they'll have 3 instead of 6. That's the immature and irresponsible mindset that still exists here in many places and with many people. Don't believe me? Get out of the cities and observe what's going on in the rural pubs all over the country. Cars, vans, trucks galore (and even tractors) outside until closing time, and the drivers are not in there drinking Ballygowan. If the gardaí had the will they could put hundreds of drivers off the road for drink driving any non-bank holiday weekend of the week. Drink driving is still rampant in this country and anyone who thinks otherwise is just fooling themselves, burying their head in the sand.

We should be increasing penalties on drink driving until it's a thing of the past. Does it take the death of a senior TD's loved one by a drunken driver before they will fully understand the scourge that plagues our country roads every night of the week? And many of those doing it are already supposed to be off the road for drink driving or other offenses. See if they care. Law enforcement in this area is still a joke.

Then again when you see politicians and councillors trying to buy votes in this country by buying rounds of drinks for everyone, even those already drunk, it shows how far we have to go.

Until this drink fuelled nation cuts the umbilical cord of its drink worshipping history, and Government puts public safety ahead of the pockets of powerful lobbyists and donators, we'll still be scraping bodies unneccessarily off our country's roads every week.

[HanleyS]

I would agree with the above with the exception of the last paragraph. A zero limit would trap those drivers who have had a couple of glasses of wine the night before. How would you define a small margin of error? Everyone metabolises alcohol at different rates so one person may still be over the limit after a couple of glasses of wine the night before whilst another would be grand after 10 pints the night before.

I've long held the belief that if you're intoxicated, you're intoxicated. It doesn't matter if you've slept since you've consumed alcohol. I know that I myself have many many times woken up after a hard night and felt unfit to drive. As a matter of personal responsibility people should know their own limits. Morning time / Drive time is one of the peak periods for accidents. Regardless of whether or not those involved are intoxicated it is a high risk time of the day.