Legislation giving gardaí the power to carry out mandatory breathtesting at the scene of a crash is to be debated in the Dáil tomorrow, the first Bill to be considered by the new Government.
The Road Traffic Bill 2011 was drawn up last year to address a problem in the Road Traffic Act 2010 which, according to Attorney General, linked this new power with the introduction of lower drink driving limits.
Legislation passed last year provides for a reduction of the current blood alcohol limit of 80mg to 50mg and the introduction of a new level of 20mg for inexperienced motorists and professional drivers.
However, these new limits will not be in place until the end of this year because new equipment capable of testing at these levels has to be purchased.
According to a briefing note prepared for former minister for transport Pat Carey, testing at crash scenes “cannot be commenced until the necessary testing equipment is in place”.
The note says the Bill to be discussed tomorrow clarifies the “position in respect of mandatory breathtesting and the powers of arrest” and aims to provide “as early as possible, the legal basis for the mandatory testing of drivers” at crash sites.
Currently, the law states gardaí may test a driver for alcohol at the scene of a crash. The new Bill removes this discretion.
Susan Gray, spokeswoman with road safety group Parc, criticised the Bill, saying a number of amendments had watered down the original Act.
One of these changes is that a driver does not have to be tested if the Garda attending the crash thinks it could be prejudicial to their health.
“How can a Garda decide that. is there a definition of prejudicial to the health of the person in law?
She said the legislation should be amended to provide for a blood or urine sample to be taken from a surviving driver who gardaí decide not to test immediately due to shock or trauma. She said there is currently no provision in the Bill for this.
