New drink-driving limits come into effect from midnight tomorrow, reducing the maximum allowable amount of alcohol with which a person may drive to as little as 20 milligrams per 100ml of blood.
The limit, which brings Irish law into line with European levels, will see the current limit of 80mg drop to 50mg. A new penalty system is being introduced to deal with offences detected under the new limits.
Previously all drink driving offences were dealt with in the courts and an automatic disqualification applied to convictions for such offences.
Under the new regime, professional drivers, learner drivers and newly qualified drivers will be subject to the lower 20mg limit, as will other categories such as those driving tractors or cars with trailers.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar today joined the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána to raise awareness of the new limits, ahead of a Garda safety campaign for the bank holiday weekend.
Mr Varadkar said the measures were designed to build on the good progress Ireland had made on road safety.
“They send out a very clear signal that drinking and driving cannot be tolerated and will be prosecuted.”
He said there had been a marked fall-off in road deaths so far this year, but that we still had “some way to go”.
“I hope these new measures will ensure that the October bank holiday weekend does not see a repeat of the carnage witnessed in earlier years.”
The Minister said similar measures in Queensland, Australia saw an 18 per cent reduction in fatal collisions and 14 per cent in serious injury collisions.
“Sweden saw a reduction of 9.7 per cent in fatal crashes and an 11 per cent decrease in single vehicle collisions.”
The reduction in the alcohol limit can be implemented following the enactment of the Road Traffic No. 2 Act 2011.
Under the new penalty system, in all cases if a driver fails a preliminary breath test at the roadside, he or she will be arrested and required to provide an evidential breath, blood or urine specimen at a Garda station.
Under the new system if a driver is not already disqualified from holding a driving licence at the time of detection or has not availed of the administrative fixed penalty notice option in the preceding three years, and the blood-alcohol levels in the body do not exceed 100mg, he or she will be subsequently served with a fixed penalty notice. Court proceedings will not be initiated if payment of the fixed charge is made and the penalty accepted.
Fixed-charge penalties under the new system will apply as follows:
For a blood-alcohol level of 50mg – 80mg, the driver will be arrested, brought to a Garda station and required to provide evidential breath or blood or urine specimens.
In all cases where the level is between 50mg and 80mg and the driver is not a “specified” person (e.g. a learner or a professional driver), and hasn’t availed of the fixed-penalty administrative option in the previous three years, a fixed penalty fine of €200 and three penalty points will apply.
Points will remain on the driving licence record for a period of three years.
Any driver accumulating 12 points in a three-year period will be disqualified from driving for a period of six months.
For those tested and found to have a concentration of 80mg-100mg of alcohol, the fine will be €400 and the person will be disqualified from holding a drivin
For those with a level of 20mg-80mg, the applicable fine (provided the person has not received a fixed penalty in the previous three years under the scheme) will be €200 and the person will be disqualified from holding a licence for three months.
District Court penalties will apply where the blood-alcohol level is above 100mg, or above 80mg for those classed as “specified” persons, where the person is not eligible to be served with a fixed penalty notice, or where a fixed penalty has not been paid.
The maximum fine is €5,000 and/or six months imprisonment, with disqualification periods of up to six years for those with higher levels of alcohol.
Garda Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid said An Garda Síochána was ready to enforce the new drink driving limits from the time they come into effect at midnight tomorrow night.
He said all the necessary scientific equipment had been re-calibrated and was in place in stations.
Chief Supt Reid also reminded drivers that it was a legal requirement to carry a valid driving licence at all times when driving.
“If a driver cannot produce his or her driving licence when required to undergo a preliminary breath test, the lower limit of 20 mg will apply to that driver, until such time as the driver produces a valid driving licence.”
Asked what the lower alcohol levels meant in terms of the quantity of drink a person could safely consume, he said the key message was that any alcohol impairs driving, so the only advice was to never drink and drive.
A major public information campaign on the changes, including TV, radio, press and online advertising also begins tomorrow.
Today's press conference outside the Custom House in Dublin was interrupted by several dozen driving instructors driving down the quays beeping their car horns as Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar spoke.
The drivers, who were members of the GMB union, were protesting at what they said was a "flawed" system of 20 mandatory driving lessons introduced for learners last April.
GMB senior official Eamon Coy said the Road Safety Authority (RSA) had refused to engage on the matter, calling the system as implemented "an absolute shambles".
Mr Coy said the union wanted a review of "necessary change" as the system was failing road safety. The RSA had reported 4,000 serious injuries between 2005 and 2009, whereas the Health and Safety Authority had reported in excess of 14,000 for the same period.
"How can a regulatory body be so far distanced from the real information?"
Mr Coy said his union represented approximately 60 per cent of driving instructors around the country. They were the people who understood how best to deliver driver training, but had been "completely cut out of the process".
Road Safety Authority chief executive Noel Brett said he had consulted with reputable representative bodies on the issue and was not prepared to engage with trade unions.