Detection of driving after drinking falls 20%

DRINK-DRIVING detections fell by 20 per cent across the Republic in the first nine months of 2009 with only one Garda division recording an increase, it has emerged.

In the Wexford division, the number of motorists caught drink-driving increased to 345 in the first nine months of 2009 compared to 304 cases in the same period in 2008. However, nationally, there was a total of 10,899 motorists caught drink-driving in the first nine months of 2009 compared to 13,577 in the same period of 2008, a fall of 20 per cent.

The new data from the CSO reveals that from 2004 to 2008 the numbers caught drink-driving rocketed by 58 per cent nationally; from 8,580 in the first nine months of 2004 to 13,577 in the same period in 2008.

The rise came about because of the establishment of the Garda Traffic Corps and the introduction of random breath-testing.

However, the figures for 2009 indicate a cultural change has now firmly taken hold, resulting in the lower detection rates in all Garda divisions except Wexford. That culture is reflected in the Republic’s road traffic death figures, which were the lowest in 2009 since records began 50 years ago.

Chief Supt Gabriel McIntyre of the Garda Traffic Corps said he believed the greater compliance with drink-driving legislation had resulted from random breath-testing and advertising campaigns highlighting the dangers of drink-driving.

He believed many people were now taking taxis or other public transport when socialising.

“We’ve seen that it’s the younger people who have been most compliant, probably because they’ve not long passed their driving test and because they’ve grown up with the very strong anti-drink-driving advertisement campaigns. So that bodes well for the future.”

The highest number of drink-driving offences in any Garda division in the first nine months of 2009 was recorded in the Dublin western division, with 838 cases. This was followed by: Dublin northern division (828 cases), Galway (558), Cavan/Monaghan (509), Dublin southern division (477), Limerick (474), Donegal (465), Cork city division (455), Louth (435) and Tipperary (400).