ALCOHOL MAY have been the contributory factor in over 1,000 fatal collisions on Irish roads between 1999 and 2008, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said yesterday.
He was speaking at a seminar of the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) in Dublin Castle.
Research figures released to mark the beginning of Irish Road Safety Week revealed that driving under the influence of alcohol contributes to as many as 10,000 deaths on roads across the European Union every year.
Director of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety Prof Denis Cusack gave the keynote speech on Alcohol and Driving. He said addressing driving with a high alcohol level was an important first step, but the influence of drugs was an increasing concern. "We have no single device which covers the spectrum of substances. We need legislative back-up, training back-up and enforcement back-up," said Prof Cusack.
He said the new Road Traffic Bill was not about punishing people but was about a “safe driving culture and a need for joined-up thinking and action”.
He stressed while novice did not necessarily mean young, “If you are between 17 and 35 and you are driving a car, you are more likely to die or be seriously injured”.
Some 120 of the 281 road fatalities in 2008 were in the 16-30 age bracket and 204 were males. However, the ETSC named Ireland the sixth-safest country in June.