Legislation allowing for the random breath testing of motorists and hundreds of privately run speed cameras began its passage through the Oireachtas today.
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen introduced the Road Traffic Bill to the Seanad saying he and the Government agreed on the "urgency to have the Bill enacted as quickly as possible".
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen and Chairman of the Road Safety Authority Gay Byrne (left).
The measures will have to be debated in the Seanad, before being brought before the Dáil and given the go-ahead by the President. The Department of Transport hopes to have the measures in place before the Dáil rises for the summer at the start of July.
The Bill will also allow for a ban on the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving as well as new powers to allow gardaí to detain foreign registered vehicles that have not been taxed or insured.
A crackdown on provisional licence holders driving without supervision is also allowed for in Bill but this will not be implemented until a backlog in driving tests has been dealt with.
"This Road Traffic Bill marks another major step forward in this Government's commitment to do all it can to make our roads safer," Mr Cullen told the Seanad today. He said it marks "a significant watershed in the deployment of road safety policy".
Fine Gael Senator Paul Coghlan welcomed the measures in the Bill but questioned the level of enforcement on the roads.
"If current road traffic legislation is not being properly enforced and is not having an impact, it is difficult to see how placing additional burdens on the Garda will bring about change," said Mr Coghlan.
"The only way to implement road traffic legislation is through high Garda visibility, but the Gardaü/span>? clearly do not have the manpower and resources to do this."
