Key Messages:
1.
Just one drink can affect your driving. This is not a theory this is scientific fact.
2.
One in five (21%) fatal road crashes that happen between 6AM and 12 noon are alcohol related.
(Alcohol in Fatal Road Crashes in
3.
Traditional ‘stomach liners’ or ‘cures’ wont speed up the process by which alcohol is eliminated from your system. Your body gets rid of roughly one standard drink per hour. That’s half a pint, or one glass of wine, or one shot - per hour. The only cure is time.
4.
To understand how alcohol affects the body visit the website
www.drinkaware.ie
It has been developed by MEAS and has practical tips on getting home safely.
5.
This Christmas & New Year plan ahead if you are going out for a drink. Leave the keys at home get a taxi, minibus, public transport or take turns to designate a driver. Remember, you may also need to make plans the next morning.
6.
An Garda Síochána
are conducting over 30,000 breath tests each month. If you drink and drive there is now a good chance that you will be caught.
If you are disqualified from driving, you will lose your licence for a minimum of one year.
Key Drink Driving Statistics
A recent study of the years 2003 to 2005 by the HSE on drink driving
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1 in 3 crashes were alcohol related
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Where BACs were available for killed drivers over half (58%) had alcohol in their blood
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In 1 in 4 crashes, the driver had consumed alcohol
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1 in 4 pedestrian deaths related to their own alcohol intake
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The research confirms that weekends through to Monday continue to be the high risk period for alcohol related fatal crashes
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1 in every 2 alcohol related crashes occur on Saturdays and Sundays
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2 out of every 3 alcohol related crashes occur between 10pm on Friday night and 8am on Monday morning.
Drink Driving & The Law
Tougher penalties for drink driving offences were introduced in March 2007. The changes include;
•
The disqualification periods for drink driving offences ranges from 1 to 6 years depending on the level of alcohol detected, and whether it is a first or subsequent offence.
This compares with the previous range of 3 months to 4 years.
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The offence of refusing to provide a sample of blood, urine or breath for evidential purposes now attracts an automatic disqualification of 4 years for a first offence and 6 years for a second or subsequent offence. Previously it was 2 and 4 years respectively.
The whole process for applying to have a licence restored following a disqualification has also been changed
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Only those who have not been disqualified in the preceding 10 years can apply for a reduction in their disqualification period.
Furthermore, only those who have been disqualified for 2 years or more will be allowed to apply for the removal of a disqualification. Those with shorter disqualifications will have to serve them in full.
Drink Driving – Fast Facts:
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87% of the public say that drinking and driving is extremely shameful. In fact they say it is more shameful than speeding, shoplifting, adultery and tax evasion.
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The
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All of the available evidence from research indicates that reducing the legal limit of BAC from the current limit of .08 to .05 will reduce the risk of being involved in a road traffic collision and consequently will save lives and prevent serious injuries.
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Any amount of alcohol impairs driving and increases risk – so the only safe advice is to NEVER EVER DRINK AND DRIVE.
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The aim of the Governments Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012, is to reduce collisions, deaths and injuries on Irish roads by 30%. This means 400 lives could be saved by the end of 2012.
Government Road Safety Strategy
The RSA has recommended a reduction in the legal Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) for drivers from the current level of 80mg to 50mg and a reduction in the current limit to 20mg for learner and professional drivers. (Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012, Action Point 76).
