Bill increases penalties for drink-driving

The new road traffic Bill is particularly aimed at tackling "the propensity of young people to sadly and tragically be killed on our roads", Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said yesterday.

The Minister will introduce the Bill in the Seanad next Thursday as it begins its passage through the Oireachtas.

"The measures in this Bill are tough. But they are necessary to improve driver behaviour and attitude and save lives," Mr Cullen said at its publication yesterday.

The Bill provides for mandatory alcohol testing and for significantly higher fines and increased periods of disqualification for drink-driving offences.

It also permits the deployment of privatised speed cameras.

In a bid to deal efficiently with legal challenges to drink-driving prosecutions, people marginally over the alcohol limits - alcohol levels between 80 and 100mg per 100ml of blood - will be offered a fixed €300 fine and a six-month ban without going to court.

Penalties for offences above the 100mg level rise to a three-year ban on court conviction with a six-year ban for a second or subsequent conviction. The Bill also makes it an offence to drive while holding a mobile phone.

The Bill also proposes to limit the scope for a person to apply to the courts to have their driving licence reinstated after it has been suspended.

Under the new arrangements, a person must serve at least two-thirds of the suspension period.

Mr Cullen, at a briefing in Dublin yesterday, referred to the massive backlog in driving tests. He said he hoped the current proposals put forward by the Labour Court would allow the backlog - currently resulting in an average 52-week waiting period - to be "significantly" reduced by early next year.

Ultimately, he said, he wanted to see the waiting time down to "a few weeks".

The Bill was welcomed by Olivia Mitchell, Fine Gael's spokeswoman, who said she hoped it would "finally end the carnage on our roads".

However, Ms Mitchell said 1,200 people had already died on the Republic's roads since it became apparent that the points system was not working.

Road Traffic Bill: main provisions

• the introduction of mandatory roadside breath testing of drivers for alcohol

• the control of the use of hand- held mobile phones while driving

• a new fixed charge fine and ban system for drink-driving offences which avoids the courts

• an increase in fines for all offences under the road traffic Acts.

• an increase in periods of disqualification for drink-driving offences

• the deployment of a privatised, State-wide speed camera network

• the reform of the driving licence scheme

• the introduction of powers to allow gardaí to detain foreign registered vehicles