MORE MOTORISTS are going behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, new figures show.
There has been a 28 percent increase in the amount of instances where drivers in Clare have been detected under the influence.
From January to December 2022, a total of 139 drivers were caught by Gardaí having had either alcohol or drugs in their system whilst behind the wheel. The equivalent figure for the same period in 2021 was 109.
Chief Superintendent in the Clare/Tipperary Garda Division, Colm O’Sullivan stated, “Driving under the influence a couple of years ago we looked at this as being a drunk driver, in the last number of years we have another issue of drug driving. Just because you’ve gone out at night and had three or four pints doesn’t mean you are safe to drive the following morning”.
Gardaí have recorded a reduction in road accidents causing serious injury in the county. There was 25 serious road accidents in the county from January to December 2021 while the number dropped to 16 for the following year. Less than ten fatal accidents have occurred on Clare roads for each year but increased from two to five.
Almost 20 percent of an increase has been observed in the amount of Clare drivers taking to the road without insurance. 166 drivers were caught without insurance in 2022 compared with 139 in 2021, a jump of 19 percent.
A total of 4,123 fixed penalty charges were issued by Gardaí in Clare in 2022, a reduction of eleven percent compared with the 4,627 instances in 2021.
Speaking at a meeting of the Clare Joint Policing Committee, Chief Supt O’Sullivan said speeding, use of mobile phones and intoxicated substances were factors behind the serious road accidents.
He cautioned, “penalty points do build up very quickly, people will lose their licence if they reach twelve penalty points. There have been life changing consequences for people involved in incidents for driving under the influence”.
Persons convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are automatically fined and disqualified from driving for a set period of time. Repeated or serious breaches may result in a prison sentence.
The main legislation dealing with road safety is the Road Traffic Act 1961. This law has been updated and modernised regularly over the years and following the introduction of the Road Traffic Act 2006, Gardaí have wide powers to reduce and eliminate the offence of drink driving.
With the introduction of the 2006 Road Traffic Act, Gardaí were given the power to breathalyse any driver stopped at a mandatory alcohol checkpoint without the need to form any opinion in relation to the driver of the vehicle. The ability to breathalyse any driver is commonly known as random breath testing.
Since 26th October 2018, under the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act 2018, drivers who previously got 3 penalty points for certain drink driving offences will now be disqualified from driving for 3 months instead.
Penalties on conviction for drink driving vary depending on the amount of alcohol that has been detected. Under the penalties introduced by the Road Traffic Act 2006 all convictions for drink driving result in a mandatory disqualification from driving.
