Stay safe this Easter bank holiday.
A lot of people in Ireland don’t believe that drink driving happens anymore. But it does – in 2023, 10% of motorists admitted to consuming alcohol before driving in the last twelve months. 33% of these drivers had consumed two or more alcoholic drinks.
But if you drink alcohol before driving, you are impairing your abilities to react and this will affect your judgement. Your reaction times slowdown, which affects your ability to react to hazards. Alcohol reduces your attention span – meaning you are less likely to notice other road users – along with creating over-confidence.
Even your vision and hearing are affected, making it difficult to stay on the road.
Drink driving is unacceptable.
It is reckless and puts the safety of others at risk because of your poor decisions.
By drink driving, you could kill yourself or others. You could cause serious lifelong injuries to others or yourself.
If you risk it, you have more chance of getting caught now than ever. Gardaí can now test for drink driving at checkpoints and the scene of any serious collision.
If you are caught for any other driving offence, such as speeding, you can be tested for drink driving.
Refusing to give a sample will result in an automatic disqualification of your licence for four years if it’s your first offence, or six years for your second and subsequent offences.
What happens if I’m caught?
Getting caught drink driving means you will automatically lose your licence. This penalty could last from three months to six years. The length depends on the level of alcohol detected, whether it is a first or subsequent offence and the classification of your licence (learner, novice, professional).
For a learner novice or professional driver who tests over their allowed limit of 20mg, at a minimum, they will receive a €200 fine and be disqualified from driving for 3 months.
If a fully licensed driver is tested at the 50mg limit and they are over the limit, at a minimum, they will receive a €200 fine and be disqualified from driving for 3 months.
If you need to get somewhere, you will have to rely on others and work around their timetable. It can also stop you from gaining entry into a number of countries.
As well as the inconvenience of losing your licence, your name and details of your case could appear in your local newspaper.
What are the legal drink driving limits?
Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) is a measurement of the amount of alcohol in your blood. It is measured in milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
The current drink-driving limit is a BAC of 50mg. This means 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
For professional, learner and novice drivers the limit is a BAC of 20mg.
So, what can I do?
Don’t let yourself get in a situation where drink driving is considered an option.
If you know you will be having a few drinks, plan ahead of time for how you will get home. That could mean using public transport, arranging a lift with a friend or booking a taxi. Avoid walking home as alcohol impairs your ability.
Keep your friends and family safe. If you see someone about to drink drive, speak up. Make sure they have safe transport home or somewhere to stay until they can safely drive.
Remember: the morning after, you could still be over the legal alcohol limit.
Never ever drink and drive.
