No lessening in drink driving - council

In the next 33 days between 150 and 200 people will be killed or seriously injured on Irish roads, according to the National Safety Council (NSC). Alcohol will be a factor in one in three crashes and will be a factor in 40 per cent of crashes that prove fatal, it said.

At the launch of its Christmas anti-drink driving campaign yesterday the NSC appealed to drivers not to drink and drive over the festive period, to slow down and for both drivers and passengers to wear seat belts.

It also said that before embarking on a night out, revellers should plan how they are going to get home or appoint a designated driver.

Mr Eddie Shaw, chairman of the NSC, said despite perceptions to the contrary the Republic's drink driving problem has not diminished.

He said many drivers believed they were safe to drive after drinking because they were below the legal limit. "They are wrong," he said.

"At half the legal limit, drivers are twice as likely to have a collision and at the legal limit, drivers are six times more likely to have a collision."

Last year 91 per cent of blood and urine samples taken from suspected drink drivers were proven to be over the legal limit. And in more than half, 58 per cent, of those cases urine specimens were found to contain over twice the legal limit of alcohol.

An average of 230 drivers per week were arrested for drink driving in the State last year.

A recent study by Lansdowne Market Research on behalf of the NSC revealed 96 per cent of respondents believed there should be an increase in breath testing of drivers.

In an international comparison of alcohol-related road fatalities prepared by the NSC, Ireland fares worst of those countries surveyed.

With a population of 3.8 million there were 160 alcohol-related deaths in Ireland per annum in recent years. But in the state of Victoria in Australia, which has a population of 3.9 million, there were just 62 deaths.

In Sweden, which has 8.9 million people, more than double Ireland, there were 150 alcohol-related deaths, 10 fewer than in Ireland.

In 2000, Ireland had the second-highest level of consumption of pure alcohol in the EU, behind only Luxembourg. Irish people on average consumed 11.1 litres of pure alcohol compared with 12.1 in Luxembourg.