Alcohol testing likely to have cut road deaths, says authority

The Road Safety Authority has said the introduction of random alcohol testing of motorists may be behind a sharp fall in the number of people killed on the roads this month.

So far 19 people have been killed in September. This compares with 31 deaths during September last year and 34 deaths during September 2004.

The number of people killed in road crashes this year to date is down slightly at 276, compared with 278 for the same period last year.

The recent drop in road deaths has followed the introduction of an expanded list of penalty point offences and random alcohol testing at the end of July under the Road Traffic Act, 2006.

Under this legislation, the number of drivers tested for drink-driving has soared, with up to 6,000 motorists breath-tested at checkpoints every weekend.

Brian Farrell, spokesman for the Road Safety Authority, said road deaths in August and September were significantly below the monthly average, which is about 30.

"While it is too early to draw any firm conclusion as to the cause of this change in behaviour, the introduction of mandatory alcohol testing may have been a factor," he said.

It was revealed yesterday that the Department of Transport is to bring amending legislation to the Dáil next Wednesday to correct a typing error in the Act.

Legal sources said the error means a driver who refuses to give a breath sample at a checkpoint is unlikely to be successfully prosecuted for drink-driving. Only a handful of drivers so far are understood to have refused to provide such a sample, and those who do face prosecution, a €5,000 fine and/or six months' imprisonment.

The Garda Traffic Bureau has said the typographical error in the legislation will not affect its enforcement activity.

Róisín Shortall, Labour Party transport spokeswoman, said the lesson from the typing error was that the Department of Transport needed to appoint its own senior counsel.

"There have been a number of slips in legislation recently and the department don't have any qualified legal advice," she said.

Olivia Mitchell, Fine Gael transport spokeswoman, said problems identified with the Road Traffic Act, 2006, strengthened the case for consolidating all the existing pieces of road traffic law into one Bill.