Roads Bill could be in use by July

Gardaí should be able to carry out random check points for drink driving as early as mid-July, if road traffic reforms are passed by the Dáil before the summer recess.

The Minister for Transport Martin Cullen says he expects minimal changes to the Road Traffic Bill as Opposition TDs have indicated they were supportive of it. Mr Cullen wants the Bill passed before the Dáil summer recess in the first week of July.

Under the Constitution, the President Mary McAleese then has up to seven days to sign it into law and once it becomes law a Garda spokeswoman said it would be enforced.

The Cabinet yesterday approved the Bill which provides for random or mandatory breath testing, a ban on hand-held mobile telephone use by drivers and increased penalties for serious road traffic offences. The legislation will be published this week.

Speaking at the launch of the National Safety Council's "Arrive Alive" campaign in Dublin, Mr Cullen said while the legislation had been drafted to be "robust enough to withstand any challenge", a legal challenge was possible.

"Every piece of legislation is subject to that, it is not peculiar to road safety legislation, although road safety legislation tends to be challenged."

The Bill would "arm gardaí with the legal basis to see many more random road side checks, to deal specifically with mandatory road side tests," he added.

Using the new legislation, gardaí will be able to set up road blocks and require all drivers to take a breath test, thus removing the obligation for a garda to form the opinion that a motorist has been drinking.

This provision had contributed significantly to delays and difficulties in drink-drinking prosecutions. To further reduce court delays, some motorists caught drink driving for the first time will be able to choose whether to accept a six-month ban and pay a fine rather than going to court and facing a minimum 12-month ban, under the new law.

Only first-time offenders with a blood alcohol reading of between 80 mg/ml and 100 mg/ml will be able to take this option. The fine for a drink-driving conviction will rise to €4,000.

Mr Cullen said a ban on the use of mobile phones was the third major element of the reforms. "It will be banned from here on in," he said.

A loophole that prevented gardaí from confiscating uninsured and untaxed vehicles registered outside the State will also be closed.

"We are including enabling provisions with regard to learner permits," as a prelude to a reform of driver licensing, Mr Cullen said. This will prohibit provisional licence holders from driving unaccompanied.

However, these changes are dependent on reducing the waiting list of 400,000 provisional drivers seeking to do a test.

The NSC today published a study that suggests the attitude of motorists to drinking driving had changed over the last six years.

A Millward Brown IMS survey in February of 1,000 motorists found that 49 per cent said they never drink and drive, compared with just 30 per cent in 2000.

While this was welcomed by the Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy, he warned that the relationship between attitude and behaviour was "not strongly supported by empirical evidence" adding that the 6,147 motorists detected drink-driving in the first quarter of 2006 was up 19 per cent on last year.

He said real success in road traffic enforcement would see a decrease in detections "indicating compliance with the law."