Drink Driving

Discodog · 01-08-2016 10:11AM

If the Guards are serious about reducing drink driving then why don't they put more Guards on night shifts.

Claw Hammer · 01-08-2016 04:35PM

Most of the fatal incidents occur in the Western counties on weekend nights. The cause is obvious. In order to socialise it is necessary for people to travel long distances. There is no adequate public transport available. Parking should be banned in the vicinity of night spots in those counties and adequate public transport should be provided. The discos should only be allowed sell tickets on busses to the venue or at a remote car park, with the car not allowed to leave the car park until the tickets are handed back.

01-08-2016 04:49PM

risteard7 wrote: »

I think mobile phone use is a much bigger problem than drink driving.

Amen.
People's ability to concentrate on the act of driving is a bigger cause of accidents, maybe not deaths but it more of a risk of causing death.
People who drink and drive don't care about killing anyone or being caught otherwise they wouldn't do it.

TheDoc · 01-08-2016 04:56PM

bigroad wrote: »

Look at the MAT checkpoints a joke,most people with 80 percent sight can see them a mile away and just turn off to another road.
Are these checkpoints just set up for the pr stunt,i think so.
We checked 750 drivers and got one .
I know many places they could check 10 drivers and get 8.
Its just a media stunt and nothing to do with catching drink drivers.

It's moreso a really good revenue exercise. i follow TrafficCorps on twitter and the amount of fines for Insurance, NCT and learners without L platers or accompanied drivers was mental.

There is a reason most checkpoints now have Revenue staff there, where they were never present before....

I'm not a tinfoil hat warrior, but its so blatantly obvious to me whats going on. Where I live there seems to have been a noticeable increase in the frequency of checkpoints, with customs people there all the time. I'd never seen a customs official at a checkpoint bar the last like 12 months.

2RockMountain · 01-08-2016 05:02PM

Discodog wrote: »

If the Guards are serious about reducing drink driving then why don't they put more Guards on night shifts.

Probably because that would mean taking more guards off day shifts where other crimes occur.

Claw Hammer · 01-08-2016 06:00PM

Catching drink drivers is extremely labour intensive. Preventing drink driving in the first place is far better than trying to catch offenders afterwards. At one stage there were guys not drinking all night, then when they heard there was a checkpoint took a quick slug of beer. They would register positive at the roadside and then have to be brought to a garda station. After an hour farting about they would have to be released because they were of course well under the limit. Meantime their drunk friends could drive home safe in the knowledge that the guards were busy with the suspect in the station.

Galwayguy35 · 01-08-2016 06:04PM

I crashed the car when drunk and was bagged and put off the road for 2 years when I was 22, I've never done it again and I wake up every day thankful that I didn't hit anyone that night.

A few years after I was caught my brother was hit by a drunk driver so I've seen the damage that it does, he was ok but the guy who was drunk was legless after being in the pub all day.

2RockMountain · 01-08-2016 06:41PM

Snickers Man wrote: »

I happily and unapologetically drink alcohol and drive. Frequently.

Never when over the limit though. Always within the law and so I am careful to watch my intake. Two will do.

Two what?

Pro Hoc Vice · 01-08-2016 06:44PM

Snickers Man wrote: »

I happily and unapologetically drink alcohol and drive. Frequently.

Never when over the limit though. Always within the law and so I am careful to watch my intake. Two will do.

Deping on what you mean by 2 but 2 pints could put some people over the limit.

01-08-2016 06:46PM

2RockMountain wrote: »

Two what?

Two years in the slammer hopefully

jackofalltrades · 01-08-2016 07:44PM

murpho999 wrote: »

This week has been an awful week on Irish roads with 12 people killed. Far more than people killed by terrorists in France that people seem more worried about.

So what if people are more worried about terrorism in France.
It's the same cycle every time there's a crash in Ireland.
Significant reporting in the news, maybe RTE cover the funeral, national outpouring of grief.
And then absolutely nothing happens, until the next accident.

We rarely know what caused the crash or what might be done to prevent it happening.
If someone was driving dangerously and get prosecuted, they'll more than likely get a slap on the wrist.
There's rarely any new ideas to address these problems.
I don't believe the motorists want anymore laws or stricter enforcement.
And the government won't bring them in because they're expensive or they might lose votes.
We even have TD's advocating for people to have the right to drink drive.

There's a whole thread in the Motoring forum of people driving dangerously.
If we as a country were serious about road safety then we'd change the law and make sure the Gards went after every single on of them.

Pro Hoc Vice · 01-08-2016 07:47PM

jackofalltrades wrote: »

So what if people are more worried about terrorism in France.
It's the same cycle every time there's a crash in Ireland.
Significant reporting in the news, maybe RTE cover the funeral, national outpouring of grief.
And then absolutely nothing happens, until the next accident.

We rarely know what caused the crash or what might be done to prevent it happening.
If someone was driving dangerously and get prosecuted, they'll more than likely get a slap on the wrist.
There's rarely any new ideas to address these problems.
I don't believe the motorists want anymore laws or stricter enforcement.
And the government won't bring them in because they're expensive or they might lose votes.
We even have TD's advocating for people to have the right to drink drive.

There's a whole thread in the Motoring forum of people driving dangerously.
If we as a country were serious about road safety then we'd change the law and make sure the Gards went after every single on of them.

At a guess how many driving related prosecutions do you think happene every year.

JustTheOne · 01-08-2016 07:49PM

The message did hit home with this generation a few years ago. People would be given an earful by their friends if they dared suggest it. Like it was a shameful act.

Now it seems to be creeping back in.

Pro Hoc Vice · 01-08-2016 07:55PM

JustTheOne wrote: »

The message did hit home with this generation a few years ago. People would be given an earful by their friends if they dared suggest it. Like it was a shameful act.

Now it seems to be creeping back in.

No evidence to back this up other than practising in the area for a long number of years but I agree with you. It's like the current twenty somethings have no issue with it.

2RockMountain · 01-08-2016 07:57PM

jackofalltrades wrote: »

So what if people are more worried about terrorism in France.
It's the same cycle every time there's a crash in Ireland.
Significant reporting in the news, maybe RTE cover the funeral, national outpouring of grief.
And then absolutely nothing happens, until the next accident.

We rarely know what caused the crash or what might be done to prevent it happening.
If someone was driving dangerously and get prosecuted, they'll more than likely get a slap on the wrist.
There's rarely any new ideas to address these problems.
I don't believe the motorists want anymore laws or stricter enforcement.
And the government won't bring them in because they're expensive or they might lose votes.
We even have TD's advocating for people to have the right to drink drive.

There's a whole thread in the Motoring forum of people driving dangerously.
If we as a country were serious about road safety then we'd change the law and make sure the Gards went after every single on of them.

Actually, we have a good idea of what causes fatal collisions (not 'accidents' - rarely accidental). RSA and Gardai put a lot of time and resource into this, and use it to drive their education work.

http://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Road-Safety/Our-Research/Deaths-injuries-on-Irish-roads/

That's why they focus on speed, drink driving and phone use.

You're right about enforcement though, the chances of being caught speeding or breaking a red light are tiny.

Discodog · 01-08-2016 08:03PM

2RockMountain wrote: »

Probably because that would mean taking more guards off day shifts where other crimes occur.

What crimes predominantly happen during the day ?

Discodog · 01-08-2016 08:09PM

Drink drive figures here will follow the same pattern as in the UK. There will be a hardcore of drivers that continue to drink & drive. The solution is for proper penalties. So if you are just over the limit you get 9 points. If you are twice over the limit you get a 10 year ban & a little jail time.

01-08-2016 08:11PM

Discodog wrote: »

What crimes predominantly happen during the day ?

Shot in broad daylight is something we hear very often in Dublin for many years.

2RockMountain · 01-08-2016 08:13PM

Discodog wrote: »

What crimes predominantly happen during the day ?

The ones that cause road deaths for a start, which are predominately daytime

http://rsa.ie/RSA/Road-Safety/Our-Research/Collision-Statistics/Ireland-Road-Collisions/

cython · 01-08-2016 08:21PM

Canis Lupus wrote: »

You won't find many muslim drunk drivers on the roads hey.

Also drink driving is bad but people do it. Whatcha gonna do.

No, but by all accounts you don't want to be driving in a Muslim country during Ramadan - had a client in the UAE tell me that the incidence of traffic accidents there in that month spikes due to people in a rush to get home, and due to lack of focus essentially due to hypoglycaemia. Perhaps not on the level of drink-driving here, but just to note Islam has its own causes of RTAs

Claw Hammer · 01-08-2016 08:48PM

Discodog wrote: »

What crimes predominantly happen during the day ?

Shoplifting, mitching for example. Also courts mostly sit during the day so garda have to attend in court.

diomed · 01-08-2016 09:27PM

cython wrote: »

No, but by all accounts you don't want to be driving in a Muslim country during Ramadan - had a client in the UAE tell me that the incidence of traffic accidents there in that month spikes due to people in a rush to get home, and due to lack of focus essentially due to hypoglycaemia. Perhaps not on the level of drink-driving here, but just to note Islam has its own causes of RTAs

When I moved to Africa for two years in the late 1970s I was told to be very careful at mid-day on Fridays. The Muslims would be speeding to prayers without much regards for other road users.

jackofalltrades · 01-08-2016 09:28PM

2RockMountain wrote: »

Actually, we have a good idea of what causes fatal collisions (not 'accidents' - rarely accidental). RSA and Gardai put a lot of time and resource into this, and use it to drive their education work.

http://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Road-Safety/Our-Research/Deaths-injuries-on-Irish-roads/

That's why they focus on speed, drink driving and phone use.

Oh I know the accidents are investigated, it's just the results of these investigations are rarely reported to us.
Crashes are usually only ever reported on in an emotional context.
It would be great if they went, "remember that collision on the news last week/month. Yeah that was caused by someone misjudging an overtaking maneuver and having a head on collision".
Or "the driver went around the bend too fast and left the road".

You're right about enforcement though, the chances of being caught speeding or breaking a red light are tiny.

In one 2 hour journey recently I passed 3 speed traps.
It wouldn't be unusual for me to pass 3/4 a week.
It's completely disproportionately policed compared to other offences.

pablo128 · 01-08-2016 09:42PM

jackofalltrades wrote: »

Oh I know the accidents are investigated, it's just the results of these investigations are rarely reported to us.
Crashes are usually only ever reported on in an emotional context.
It would be great if they went, "remember that collision on the news last week/month. Yeah that was caused by someone misjudging an overtaking maneuver and having a head on collision".
Or "the driver went around the bend too fast and left the road".

In one 2 hour journey recently I passed 3 speed traps.
It wouldn't be unusual for me to pass 3/4 a week.
It's completely disproportionately policed compared to other offences.

Could I hazard a guess that you drive around the South East of the country? I've done a load of different van runs around Ireland covering the drivers in work, and the Wexford run by far has the highest amount of camera vans.

2RockMountain · 01-08-2016 10:07PM

jackofalltrades wrote: »

Oh I know the accidents are investigated, it's just the results of these investigations are rarely reported to us.
Crashes are usually only ever reported on in an emotional context.
It would be great if they went, "remember that collision on the news last week/month. Yeah that was caused by someone misjudging an overtaking maneuver and having a head on collision".
Or "the driver went around the bend too fast and left the road".

Something like these reports?

http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?q=coroner%27s%20inquest%20collision

sdanseo · 01-08-2016 10:12PM

Pinch Flat wrote: »

What scares me is that the RSA report that in the order of 150 to 180 people a week are caught drink driving.

I've been driving back here since 2000 since in moves back from the uk, drove from 1987 to 1995. In all that time, I've been breath tested once. Had a few random stops for tax insurance etc, so perhaps if I had a few sherbets on board I could have fallen foul of the law.

Given that alcohol is a factor in 38% of road fatalities here, I think we have a massive drink driving problem.

I agree - they need to massively expand the MAT checkpoints. I've been through a few tax and insurance CPs lately but there was a good stretch of a year or more where I barely saw a Garda car.

I haven't been breathalysed since 2011 or so (think I was tested 3 times in 2 years before that to be fair) and in that time have driven maybe 75,000 to 100,000km mostly around Dublin.

jackofalltrades · 01-08-2016 10:17PM

pablo128 wrote: »

Could I hazard a guess that you drive around the South East of the country? I've done a load of different van runs around Ireland covering the drivers in work, and the Wexford run by far has the highest amount of camera vans.

Good guess.
I'm glad other people see the amount of vans as being high compared to the rest of the country.

jackofalltrades · 01-08-2016 10:28PM

2RockMountain wrote: »

Something like these reports?

http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?q=coroner%27s%20inquest%20collision

Yes, but closer to the time when the event is still fresh in peoples mind.
Which I know probably can't be done for various reasons.

FrStone · 01-08-2016 10:29PM

jackofalltrades wrote: »

If we as a country were serious about road safety then we'd change the law and make sure the Gards went after every single on of them.

We do take it very seriously. We are quite successful at preventing Road traffic deaths. Just look at the states, where drink driving is way more prevalent and punishment is not as severe. Our road deaths per capita are actually quite low, despite what the rsa like us to believe.

petrolcan · 01-08-2016 11:05PM

Discodog wrote: »

Drink drive figures here will follow the same pattern as in the UK. There will be a hardcore of drivers that continue to drink & drive. The solution is for proper penalties. So if you are just over the limit you get 9 points. If you are twice over the limit you get a 10 year ban & a little jail time.

The punishment for DD in the UK is a one year ban. Twice in ten years gets you a three year ban.

Drink Driving

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