Only 4% tested for drink-driving prior to 2005

Just 4 per cent of motorists in Ireland were tested for drink-driving during the three years prior to 2005, a European road safety report has found.

The study from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) compared the progress made by different European countries in reducing deaths from drink-driving and found that Ireland was doing badly in terms of the enforcement measures it had taken until that date.

The ETSC report ranked Ireland fifth among 27 countries for drink-driving deaths and said research showed that 28 per cent of all fatal road crashes in Ireland involve drink-driving.

However, the true figure could actually be worse, as the report's authors noted that there was a lack of research data available from Ireland.

In light of the study's findings, Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins said the Government should now consider a "complete ban on alcohol consumption for inexperienced drivers". This is one of the recommendations from the Road Safety Authority to the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen as part of a plan for measures to cut road deaths among young drivers.

"According to the results of the latest ETSC report, only 4 per cent of Irish drivers have been checked for alcohol over the last three years, and only 3 per cent were checked on more than one occasion," Mr Higgins said.

"This compares with a check rate of 26 per cent in Finland, where 38 per cent of those drivers were checked more than once.

"We know that the majority of those killed on Irish roads are young drivers in the 18-24 age group. I believe we need to look at a complete ban on alcohol for drivers for the first four years after they receive their full licences, and tougher penalties for those convicted of drink-driving as a way of stamping out road deaths where alcohol is a factor," he said.

Fine Gael spokesman on road safety Shane McEntee said he accepted that road deaths dropped when mandatory breath testing was introduced. However, he added that drink-driving could be an even bigger factor in road deaths than the report suggests "given the lack of detailed information available about road deaths under Fianna Fáil and the PDs."

Brian Farrell, spokesman with the RSA told The Irish Times last night that since 2005, random breathtesting had been introduced and that gardaí were now testing 30,000 drivers each week.

He added that the criticism regarding the availability of research from Ireland had been addressed already. "We got the first yearly research on drink-driving for 2003 last year and there is work currently being done at the moment on this for both 2004 and 2005. So the information gap is being addressed and our research is developing."

Mr Farrell added that in the wake of random breath testing being introduced last year there had been a 21 per cent fall in fatalities. "What happened last year was a major leap in terms of how we tackle drink-driving. Those two issues go back as far as 2005. It doesn't take into account the tracking research coming out of Ireland. There are now four ways that a garda can try and detect a drink driver and they now have the enforcement powers they need.

"In terms of our attitudes, that has to be looked at as well. It really is now viewed as socially unacceptable." Despite Ireland scoring fairly poorly in the report and the fact that recent developments here were not included, Mr Farrell said comparative road safety research was beneficial, not least for identifying road safety issues other countries were facing.

The ETSC report found that the Czech Republic has made the most progress in reducing drink-driving deaths in Europe but that a number of countries, most noticeably Britain, have seen deaths from alcohol-related road crashes rise.

Finland, Hungary and Spain showed rises of 3.01 to 4.86 per cent in alcohol-related crashes compared with causes of other road deaths, while in Britain, the number rose 2.35 per cent per year.

The report was based on data from the period 1996 to 2005.