All drivers in France must carry breathalysers

THOSE OF you travelling by car to France for a holiday this year will have yet another item to remember to bring in the car, lest you incur a fine from the ever-watchful gendarmes.

In addition to the reflective jacket, warning triangle and set of spare bulbs that all must carry, the French police will now also be checking for a self-testing breathalyser in the car.

The new rule comes into force on July 1st, just as many people from Ireland and the UK are heading off to the continent with the car. While the fine for not complying with the new law is a relatively small €17, the experience of a ticking off at the hands of the French police could be even worse than the damage to your pocket.

“The French police are notoriously stern and unsympathetic, and tourists find them merciless,” said Conor Faughnan, director of policy with the AA. “Anyone who has had the experience of being stopped by a garda at home will be in for a rude awakening if they expect to meet the same sort of decency in France. The €17 might be the least of your worries.

“Is it a good idea and, if so, should we be doing it here? To my mind: no, it is not. It is one of those cosmetic gestures that is hard to be against without sounding as if you are soft on drink driving. It sounds plausible and laudable, but I do not believe that it will bring benefits proportionate to its cost. There are a couple of reasons why I would not favour it here.

“First, self-testing tends to encourage people to drink right up to the limit. It promotes the notion that ‘I’m negative so I’m okay to drive’, whereas the best advice is to avoid alcohol altogether.

“Second, there is a delay in the way the body processes alcohol. It is entirely possible to drink some alcohol, stop drinking, test negative and drive away only to find that you are above the legal limit half an hour later.

“It may have some merit for the ‘morning after’. If a person was out the previous evening and is nervous about whether they are above the limit or not, then they might use it. That is fine, but I am not sure that it will save lives. While drink driving is rightly forbidden 24 hours a day, there is no denying the data which tells us broadly when people get killed – and the mornings really are not the danger period.

“In any case, while a self-tester may be helpful for some people the morning after, that does not mean there will be a benefit to society from making them compulsory. I would take the view that for the vast majority of Irish drivers they are unnecessary, and for the reckless cohort willing to take risks with alcohol they are unlikely to be effective.”

The breathalysers are inexpensive, costing just €1.50 to €2 each, although it should be noted that these are single-use items. If you’ve already blown into it to check yourself, you’re into a grey area, at best. Having a used breathalyser in the car is unlikely to mollify an inquisitive French police officer.

Multi-use digital breathalysers are available, but these can cost anything from €50 to €200.

Will we see such a rule enforced here in Ireland? It seems unlikely at the moment. Noel Brett, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority said: “We are aware of this development in France and, while we have no plans to introduce such a system here in Ireland, we will monitor developments closely.

“Efforts to tackle the issue of drink driving in Ireland have focused on raising awareness of the driver impairment that alcohol causes [and] the recent reduction in the drink-drive limit, and this has been supported by robust Garda enforcement.”