Should the permitted level of blood alcohol for drivers be lowered?

 
Pádraig Cribben says criminalising someone who has one pint while ignoring other factors will increase rural isolation without reducing road deaths



THE VINTNERS' Federation of Ireland is 100 per cent behind any realistic measures that reduce road carnage. However, we are totally opposed to reducing the level of alcohol permissible for experienced drivers, as this will not lead to achieving this all-important strategic objective.

Any right-minded person totally abhors the practice of drunk-driving and we in the VFI would never argue differently. Drinking to excess and getting behind the wheel of a car is morally reprehensible and socially unacceptable.

There is, though, a total absence of balance in the debate on road safety, and as a result it has become totally skewed. To restore this balance we have to ensure that the soft options are not taken on all road safety issues.

It is now fully accepted by everybody, including the Road Safety Authority, that speed is the biggest contributor to road deaths. World Health Organisation figures showed that a reduction of a mere 3km/h would save up to 6,000 lives per annum across Europe. So why in the current debate has nobody suggested that speed limits on roads be reduced?

There is no doubt that a reduction of speed limits by 10km/h, and adherence to same, would significantly reduce the numbers killed on the roads. We have to assume that it has been decided that the balance between the risk on the roads on the one hand, and the need to keep the country moving traffic-wise on the other, dictates that the current speed limits stay in place. Is leaving the status quo in place merely taking the soft option?

In 2006, 44 per cent of people killed on the roads were drivers and 25 per cent of these were not wearing seatbelts. We have to assume that if seatbelts were worn, that in some of those cases, lives would have been saved.

Why has there been no call for drivers caught not wearing seatbelts to be put off the road on a mandatory basis? Is leaving the status quo in place merely taking the soft option? In 2006, 73 pedestrians were killed on the road. Many of these fatalities occurred in the hours of darkness.

Why has there been no call for the compulsory wearing of high-visibility vests by pedestrians in the hours of darkness? Should a curfew not be imposed on those pedestrians out in hours of darkness without a high-vis vest, or will the soft option be taken again?

In each of the three instances above, hard and unpopular decisions would have a significant impact on reducing the numbers of people killed on our roads.

Yet, there has been little or no discussion or debate on any of these possibilities.

It is necessary to put the discussion on alcohol and driving in context and to find balance. The proposal to reduce the permissible alcohol level from 80mg to 50mg would, in essence, mean that an individual would not be in a position to have one pint of beer or a glass of wine and drive.

Donegal coroner Dr Madden, in his 17 years practice, claimed that in the vast majority of cases where drink is the cause of the accident, alcohol levels were between 150mg and 300mg and it was extremely rare for the alcohol levels to be between 50mg and 80mg.

The proposals to reduce the alcohol levels permissible are setting out to criminalise a section of drivers that would be much less likely to cause fatalities than your seatbelt-less, high-visibility vest-less, high-speeding and reckless users of the road.

Where is the balance between this proposal and the effect it will have on many people living in rural Ireland?

Rural isolation is a major issue. Consultant physiatrist Dr Bhamjee has noticed a link between rural pub closures, higher suicide rates and rural isolation and this has been backed recently by Dr Justin Brophy of the Irish Association of Suicidology.

Part of the cause of rural isolation is the fear of many people to go to the local village for a drink or two, to socialise with friends and to discuss the topics of the day. In the absence of this outlet, many resort to drinking at home in an uncontrolled environment and this over-indulgence can lead to depression and more serious problems.

This rural isolation is creating a new generation of binge drinkers, but these binge drinkers are not the young generation but rather the older generation who are living in fear of driving to their local village for a quiet chat, social interaction and a drink.

Reducing the blood alcohol level to the point where we are criminalising someone who has one drink and drives is taking a soft, ineffective option and ignores the necessity for balance which is missing in this discussion.

By doing so, we are not tackling the real issues and will not achieve the vital strategic aim of reducing road fatalities.

Pádraig Cribben is the chief executive of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) which represents 5,000 publicans throughout Ireland outside of Dublin

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