Cabinet to consider introducing 50mg limit for drivers

PROPOSALS TO reduce the blood alcohol limit for drivers are to be brought to Cabinet by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey within a matter of weeks.

The proposals, which have been drawn up by the Road Safety Authority, are to reduce the current limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, to 50mg per 100ml of blood.

They would also see the blood alcohol limit for novice drivers being reduced to 20mg per 100ml of blood.

Mr Dempsey said he would bring the authority's proposals to Cabinet before the Taoiseach retires on May 6th, which will also be the day of Mr Ahern's last Cabinet meeting.

Speaking to reporters at a joint Road Safety Authority/European Transport Safety Council meeting in Dublin yesterday, Mr Dempsey said the decision would be a Cabinet decision, and he declined to indicate his opinion on the change.

The Minister said he wanted to see the proposal debated by the current Cabinet in advance May 6th, remarking: "I don't see any reason to delay."

The Government is committed to an unspecified reduction of the current limit by June 2009, under the terms of its five-year Road Safety Strategy which ends in 2012. If approved by Cabinet the measure would likely be in place by early next year.

Among EU countries only Britain and Ireland allow a limit of 80mgs of alcohol per 100mls of blood. Bulgaria uses a graduated system with different levels of fines and suspensions depending on the amount of alcohol. Romania has a zero limit. Last July Germany introduced a zero limit for drivers under 21 years.

The proposal to reduce the Irish limit was drawn up by an advisory group which included Prof Denis Cusack, head of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, Prof Ray Fuller from Trinity College and members of the Garda.

A joint Irish Medical Organisation/British Medical Association of Northern Ireland report in January 2007 also recommended a reduction.

The proposal was criticised by Donegal coroner Dr John Madden, who claimed it would make little difference as most drunk drivers appeared to be well over existing limits. He called for the publication of statistics on injuries and fatalities in which a driver with a blood alcohol count of between 50mgs and 80mgs per 100mls of blood was involved.

The Vintners Federation of Ireland said any changes in the current law would be ineffective in tackling the problem of drunk driving and would push people in rural areas into further fear and isolation.

Padraig Cribben, chief executive of the federation, said it had been shown that "where road deaths are linked to drink driving, the blood alcohol level is generally in excess of 150mg, not 80mg".

50mgs of alcohol: how much is it and when will you be over the limit?

Professor Ray Fuller of Trinity College Dublin, a member of the Road Safety Authority panel which recommended lowering the drink-drive limit, is cautious about estimates of numbers of pints or "small ones" which may put drivers over the limit.

"There are just so many variables which affect an individual's metabolism," he said. Height and weight influence the absorption of alcohol, as does tiredness, whether a person has eaten, and gender. We do know that one glass of wine, or one bottle of beer or a small glass of whiskey represent one unit of alcohol."

Professor Fuller says an average man could metabolise one unit of alcohol in one hour.

In this way he said, the iconic bachelor farmer could continue to depend on the pub for social interaction, enjoying three drinks over a three-hour period without being over the 50mg limit.

"If people drink in a sensible way there is no need to worry," he said.

• Within the EU most countries have a 50mg/100ml or less blood alcohol limit including:

Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

• The UK and Ireland have an 80mg/100ml limit.
• Only Romania has a zero limit for all drivers.
• Germany has a zero limit for drivers under the age of 21 years.