A necessary inconvenience? The new Road Traffic Bill proposed by the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, has ignited a heated debate after it was proposed to reduce the blood alcohol limit (BAL) from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg, and to 20mg for inexperienced and professional drivers. The bill will also see mandatory breath testing taking place at the scene of all accidents but it is the reduction in the BAL that has caused the most controversy, with groups fervently backing or opposing the bill. Anton McNulty takes a look at both sides of the argument. ‘Another nail in the coffin for rural Ireland’ ANOTHER nail in the coffin for rural pubs and rural communities is how Marty O’Hora of the Mayo branch of the Vintners Federation of Ireland described the proposals to reduced the blood alcohol limit for drivers.
The VFI and publicans have been one of the most vocal groups in their opposition to the new changes by Minister Dempsey and believe it is another attack on their livelihood. Mr O’Hora explained to The Mayo News that they do not condone drink driving but he feels that these new changes will have a negative impact on rural pubs in particular, which he feels are already feeling the pinch.
“We are opposed to it being reduced here in Mayo because we don’t want to see anymore pubs go out of business but the reality is this will happen if this becomes law. It will be another nail in the coffin. There have been numerous changes through the years which have affected rural pubs such as the smoking ban and this law was recently changed to bring the limit down from 100mg to 80mg. We don’t condone people drinking and driving but this means you can’t even have one drink. A lot of people don’t realise that you won’t be able to have a glass of wine or a glass of beer with their meal if this thing comes into play,” he said.
Kevin O’Toole (pictured), who is the proprietor of O’Toole’s pub and Paddy’s pub in Tourmakeady felt Minister Dempsey’s proposal is another step towards Ireland becoming a ‘nanny’ state and that it would affect rural pubs because of the lack of alternative transport.
“Alternative transport is very limited in rural areas and if people can’t make alternative arrangements they will just stay at home. This will affect individuals rather than groups going to pubs especially in rural areas, and a lot of elderly people will be depending on neighbours to bring them. There is no bus service like you can get in Dublin or Galway and while there are taxis in Castlebar, there’s only a limited number of taxis available in Tourmakeady. If people are all leaving at closing time how many taxis will it take to bring them home or will the government expect publicans to bring them home,” he wondered.
Mr O’Hora added that for elderly people living on their own, the local pub was their only outlet to meet people and this changes will mean these people will become more isolated.
“There will be a lot of pubs closing down especially in country areas where you need a car to get to the pub and there is no taxi service available or any street lighting. This won’t make it any easier for rural people to socialise who for many their only social outlet is to go to the pub for a pint or two and play a game of cards at night. They won’t be able to do that anymore.”
Both men struggled to find the rationale for bringing down the alcohol limit from 80 to 50 and wondered what difference if any it will make to reducing the number of accidents and deaths on the roads.
“I have to ask the question how many road accidents around the country have been caused by driving with a reading of between 50 and 80,” added Kevin O’Toole.
“It is over the top to bring the level down to 50 and if we try to prevent every single thing that happens from happening, we will be left in a very restrictive society.”
Marty O’Hora also questioned that accuracy of statistics which reveal the level of alcohol related road deaths.
“There is no evidence to show that by reducing it it will save more lives on the road and there are also reasons to question the statistics used. If I was leaving a man home from the pub and was involved in an accident and there was a fatality, it would be put down as an alcohol related accident because the passenger had drink in his system. If the true figures were shown it would reveal that there are a lot less killed on the road where the drivers had alcohol.”
‘It is a sad state of affairs if it does not go through’ FOR Noel Gibbons, the road safety officer for Mayo County Council, the proposal to reduce the blood alcohol limit (BAL) from 80mg to 50mg is a no brainer. He feels if it can save one life it should be introduced and that should outweigh any counter-argument.
Since becoming road safety officer, Noel has been to the forefront in the battle to reduce the number of deaths and accidents on our roads and he strongly welcomes the proposal by Minister Dempsey. He pointed out that the BAL for all EU countries bar Ireland, the UK and Malta was 50mg or lower and the number of road deaths in those countries has reduced since its introduction.
“Anything that will reduce the number of people killed on the roads has to be supported. If you look at the best practice used in other countries there has been a huge reduction in the number of fatalities as a result of reducing the drink driving limit. Naturally those countries had the same debate we are having when the reduced limits were introduced but they are now reaping the benefits with the reduction in deaths on the roads.
“The whole point of reducing the limit is to save lives and that should be the priority in all cases. When the random breath testing was introduced it was opposed but we are able to see the number of lives saved and this will be a follow-on from that,” he said.
The common argument for opposing the reduction of the alcohol limit is the it will have a detrimental affect on rural Ireland and rural businesses. However, Mr Gibbons believes that this argument needed to be brought up on a different forum and another person who believes this argument does not wash is Susan Gray, founder of Public Against Road Carnage (PARC) - a road safety advocacy group based in Inishowen, Co Donegal who promote responsible driving. She told The Mayo News that her association was 100 per cent behind Minister Dempsey’s proposal and would be very disappointed if he backed down.
“We should bring this in now and this time next year there will be people alive who would not be if it is not reduced,” she said. “When you get behind the wheel you need all your concentration and if you have drink on you the chances of being involved in a collision are a lot higher. This silly argument about people living in rural Ireland being isolated and not getting to the pub is a load of codswallop. I live in a rural part of Ireland, you can’t get anymore rural than Inishowen, and we make alternative arrangements about getting home from the pub, it’s that simple. Most of the electorate want this lower limit and support it except for a few with a load voice. It is a sad state of affairs if it does not go through and I hope people back Minister Dempsey.”
Mr Gibbons revealed that a recent survey showed that 87 per cent of Irish people consider drink driving as a shameful act. However he feels that for the number of deaths to continue to fall the attitude amongst certain drivers that one pint will do no harm has to change.
“I believe people will accept this change but they need to realise that there is no safe limit with drink driving. If you have a drink you cannot drive. Even at a quarter of the current legal limit, your vision is affected. There’s a huge percentage of fatalities every year where alcohol is in the system of people involved in those fatal collisions. Lowering the drink driving limit will reduce that risk.”
Ms Gray believes that there is a culture of drink driving in the country but feels reducing the limit will go a long way in changing that culture.
“When mandatory testing came in it did reduce the drink driving a lot and if we bring a lower limit that will be another step in the right direction in saving lives. That is what it is all about, nobody should be dying on our roads unnecessiarily.”
Current drink driving laws AT present, it is an offence to drive if the concentration of alcohol in your blood exceeds a concentration of 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. Penalties on conviction for drink driving will vary depending on the amount of alcohol that has been detected in your system. Another factor the court will take account of is whether the offence is your first offence or otherwise. All convictions for drink driving carry a mandatory disqualification from driving.
The minimum period of disqualification for not exceeding 100mg is one year for the first offence and two years for the second offence. If you are between 100mg and 150mg, the disqualification is two years for the first offence and four years for the second and exceeding 150mg the penalty is three years for the first offence and six years for the second.
The morning after - when is it safe to drive? ONE of the most common questions asked by drivers, one which is almost impossible to answer, is when is it safe to drive after having drank the night before. Many people think once you had some sleep and a breakfast you will be safe to drive legally the ‘morning after’ but this is not always the case.
It is impossible to get alcohol out of your system quickly and, despite the common perception, a coffee and a shower will not speed the process up. The only thing which will lower a person’s blood alcohol content is time. Given that the body is only able to process about one standard drink an hour, recovery periods can become quite lengthy.
Most experts suggest that it will take a pint of average strength (four per cent) beer or cider at least two hours to leave your blood stream when you stop drinking, while a 250ml glass of 15 per cent wine will take four hours.
According to safedriving.ie, an average person drinking on a typical Saturday night may at midnight have 200 mg per 100 ml of blood in their system - 2.5 times the current drink driving limit. If the person stops drinking at midnight there will still be 90 mg in their system at 7.30am and they will still be over the limit, and may only be under the current limit by 10.30am.
