Moves to breathalyse drivers involved in accidents should be mandatory in all cases under the new law and not discretionary under the plans, argued the families of road traffic victims.
The PARC road safety group wants senators to amend the Road Traffic Bill 2009, as it goes through its final stages in the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Campaigners said that under the bill while gardaí have mandatory powers to test drivers involved, this becomes discretionary if they leave the scene of an accident to find a breathalyser and then return.
"This is an invidious position in which to place our gardaí especially in rural Ireland where the chances of being involved in a collision are greater, where everybody knows everybody else and where many rural garda stations are now closed. Our law must support our gardaí in doing their work and we must ensure that they are given the necessary equipment in order to enforce it," said the group in a statement yesterday.
PARC said only a minor change was needed in the life-saving legislation.
TDs had already tried unsuccessfully to table an amendment to have the word "may" in the part of the bill replaced by the word "shall" which was all that was required to retain the mandatory nature of the requirement to test, added the group.
PARC added: "The law must do what it says on the tin which is mandatory testing of all drivers involved in injury collisions. It is important for all of the drivers of Ireland who would not drink and drive to know that, in the event of their involvement in an injury collision, they are in a position to show that they are under the legal drink driving limit."
Source: Juno McEnroe, The Irish Examiner, 28/06/2010
Safer Student Nights
eBulletin
Poll
