Publicans criticise early breath tests

Rural publicans have criticised early morning random breath testing of motorists driving to work, saying it is "terrorising" drivers. Paul Stevenson, Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) President, said his members had reported random breath testing being carried out at 8am and 9am.

"It is difficult to understand the rationale of breath testing people at that time of the morning. The legislation was brought in to stamp out drunken driving, not to terrorise people on their way to work. If that practice were to continue, the gardaí may lose support," he suggested.

Mr Stevenson added that care had to be taken to ensure the new legislation "is not exercised in an arbitrary way", and was done "within a legal framework."

Early morning alcohol breath testing was used on a large scale on Monday morning last after the Electric Picnic festival in Co Laois, with festival goers tested as they left the concert venue.

According to gardaí, hundreds of motorists were tested and eleven arrested for failing a test as part of this operation. Drivers were also randomly breath tested last Friday as they entered the festival site.

Up until the end of August more than 10,600 drivers had been arrested for drink driving, a 22 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.

The VFI made its statement on random testing after a meeting of its National Executive Council yesterday was told of the extreme concern that the impact of random breath testing was having on pub sales.

Regional officers told the VFI meeting that the impact of the new legislation on sales had been far greater than expected and had led to a significant downturn in business. Particularly badly hit were the pubs in rural areas with little or no public transport, the VFI claimed.

Mr Stevenson said rural public transport had to be dramatically improved. "Public transport between towns and villages in rural Ireland is totally inadequate and in some cases almost non-existent in the evening.

"If Government is serious about stamping out drinking and driving then it must ensure that people have the option to take public transport and leave their car behind." He said the VFI supports all measures to help "stop the carnage on our roads, but those measures must be done in a fair and equitable way for every citizen."

To counter the downturn, Mr Stevenson said publicans in rural areas were looking at the feasibility of courtesy transport for customers.

"Other members many need to look at their location and possibly consider moving closer to their target market," he said.

A spokesman for the Drinks Industry Group Ireland (DIGI), said it was too early to make an accurate assessment of the impact random breath testing would have on alcohol sales.

A spokesman for the Licensed Vintners Association - which represents publicans in Dublin - was not available for comment last night.

In the first month mandatory breath testing has been available, gardai have tested roughly 6,000 motorists each weekend.

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend more than 12,450 drivers were tested and 116 arrested at garda checkpoints.