THE CONTROVERSIAL issue of drink-driving legislation is set to dominate Fine Gael’s parliamentary party meeting this evening with several TDs set to call on the party to oppose the Government’s plan to lower blood alcohol limits.
The Fine Gael leadership has expressed broad agreement with the Government’s legislation, which involves lowering blood alcohol limits from 80mg to 50mg.
However, Waterford TD John Deasy will call on his party to oppose the legislation on the basis that it is “not backed up by science” and will not significantly reduce road deaths.
He says all available evidence points towards better enforcement of random breath-testing, as well as targeting younger drivers and drug driving, as a better way of improving road safety.
Mr Deasy, who claims he has “significant” support in the party for his position, will debate in favour of opposing the Government’s move. The party’s transport spokesman Fergus O’Dowd is due to support a lowering in blood alcohol levels.
Mr Deasy said lowering the blood alcohol level from 100mg to 80mg in 1994 did not reduce road deaths. “In fact the number of deaths went up significantly in the years following the decrease. Clearly, it had no effect.
“By 1995 the number of deaths went up from 404 to 437. By 1997 there were 472 road deaths. What really brought the numbers down was random breath tests in 2006 and an increase in traffic corps numbers, which rose from 563 to 1,101 between 2006 and 2009.”
He said over the past three years, the number of people charged with driving a vehicle while over the legal limit had fallen by about 30 per cent.
“We need to focus on what has worked in the past – random breath-testing and enforcement – and making that even stronger. By focusing instead on blood alcohol limits, we may end up actually losing lives,” he said.
Mr Deasy said Fianna Fáil backbenchers’ “simplistic and populist” opposition to the Government’s legislation had made it much harder to oppose the plans.
“That doomed any counter-argument to the proposals. What is worse, the Government’s compromise solution, which involves people having penalty points and a fine, is dangerous. It means many people associate drink-driving with a fine rather than a suspended licence.”
Mr Deasy also pointed to official figures which show that 18 drivers with a blood alcohol level of 50mg- 80mg were killed in road crashes between 2003 and 2005. The same number were killed with a blood alcohol level of 20mg-49mg over the same period.
“When you go above 80mg, the numbers increase dramatically. The people with blood alcohol levels of between 50mg and 80mg aren’t the problem,” he added.
Under the revised proposals, drivers caught with a blood alcohol limit of 50mg-80mg will receive three rather than six penalty points and a €200 fine if they do not challenge the conviction.
