Drinkers, be careful on the roads from now on.

meditraitor · 24-10-2011 12:43PM #1

Obviously be carefull all the time but from this week onwards the alcohol legal limit is being reduced to near 0.

This effectively means that if you have a bottle of wine(8 units), hit the hay at Midnight and are out in your car before 8am you could in all likelyhood be over the limit,

Fine and a ban to follow if caught.

And if you forget to carry your license you will also face a lower limit check,

On a lighter note, when I cut and paste this from the sindo, the highlighted add gave me a giggle, bloody interweb knows what your thinkin.

Drink-drive limit drops this week
Hundreds of checkpoints as level falls below 'just one pint'

Convicted Drivers Quotes
Low-Cost Car Insurance For Drivers With Convictions. Apply Online Now!

BeWiser.co.uk/Convicted-Drivers

Monday October 24 2011

MOTORISTS finally face new lower drink-drive limits from Thursday night, the Irish Independent has learned.

The new breath test limit of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood -- down from the current 80mg -- is equivalent to drinking less than one pint of beer.

There will also be a virtual 'zero tolerance' limit of 20mg for learner and professional drivers.

The new limits are being made legal from midnight on Thursday.

Gardai are to mount hundreds of mandatory alcohol tests (MAT) checkpoints nationwide over the October bank holiday weekend to enforce the new lower limits.

The new three-tier drink driving regime involves a controversial 'second chance' for those who are just over the limit.

Under the current system, all drink drivers are prosecuted in court -- and banned for 12 months if convicted.

Gardai now have powers allowing them to impose three penalty points and an on-the-spot fine of €200 for motorists caught slightly above the new legal limit of 50mg.

This will replace the current automatic court appearance and disqualification for one year, while these drivers will also escape a drink-driving conviction. However, drivers will be legally obliged to notify their insurance companies when renewing their premiums.

Motorists will only be allowed to use this lower penalty regime once in a three-year period. If caught a second time, they will go to court.

Drivers found with between 80mg and 100mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood will be served with a fixed-charge notice of €400 and will be disqualified from driving for six months, instead of the current 12 months imposed by courts. They will also have a conviction recorded against them.

Drivers who test above the 100mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood cannot avail of the fixed-charge option and must appear in court. A minimum ban of one year, and possible fines of up to €5,000, can be imposed.

The number of drivers being prosecuted for drink driving is steadily falling.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said this bank holiday weekend was regarded as a pivotal event every year for road safety, given the tragic legacy of crashes in previous years.

While last year was the safest year on the roads since 1959, with 212 people killed, October was by far the worst month with 36 fatalities.

- Treacy Hogan Environment Correspondent

orourkeda · 24-10-2011 12:44PM

OP giving drink drivers the heads up shocker

Dravokivich · 24-10-2011 12:44PM

From now on...

...as opposed to before?

KTRIC · 24-10-2011 12:47PM

Damn, no more drink driving for me

I feel really hard done by, surely they can't get away with this :rolleyes:

starbelgrade · 24-10-2011 12:48PM

Never drink & drive.

You might spill some.

stovelid · 24-10-2011 12:55PM

meditraitor wrote: »

This effectively means that if you have a bottle of wine(8 units),

What's this in non-gay alcohol units?

Wertz · 24-10-2011 12:56PM

Something I haven't seen clarified on this...if you get stopped and blow above the new limit but below the old one and gte the 200 quid fine/3 points...do you just get to drive off down the road or are you arrested and car taken back to station?

Up until now under the old limit system, you could drive on (since you hadn't broken a law), and not get fine/points and if above the old limit arrested and car taken back to station.
So this week those people weren't really a danger...and next week they sort of are, especially if they do it more than once :rolleyes: More revenue collection without the costly court process.

Anyway the people above the old or new legal limits aren't the problem...it's the people 2 and 3 times above the limit that are the real danger and from what I've seen in my area, random test checkpoints are almost non existent.
the law was fine as it was...the enforcment was the problem...this is us just playing at being good EU citizens.

BTW I don't drink before anyone accuses me of defending drink driving...

4leto · 24-10-2011 12:59PM

So if you are driving to work the next morning its ballygowan another nail in the coffin of the pub trade.

I have never drank and drove, BUT I would say I was over the limit when I drove the morning after. I don't think on those mornings my driving was any less safer then normal. But I have heard those arguments years ago when most drank and drove, "I am a safer driver with drink I am more careful".

I personally think 50mg is to low, jaysus a portion of sherry trifle might send you over. But that's just me.

orourkeda · 24-10-2011 01:03PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_53g9m0hVQ

robbie_998 · 24-10-2011 01:05PM

why are there more motor threads showing up in AH ?

Mena · 24-10-2011 01:06PM

robbie_998 wrote: »

why are there more motor threads showing up in AH ?

Because that's where the OP posted it

Wattle · 24-10-2011 01:06PM

Sure lads its grand if there's a drink driving checkpoint up ahead some friendly driver coming the other way will flash his lights to warn you.

SEPT 23 1989 · 24-10-2011 01:13PM

I will have to change my blood before i leave for work

Tea_Bag · 24-10-2011 01:18PM

I can't believe its still a pint though.

virtually zero isn't zero at all. If you consume a pint, you don't drive for at least an hour or 2, simple as.

seamus · 24-10-2011 01:21PM

Wertz wrote: »

Something I haven't seen clarified on this...if you get stopped and blow above the new limit but below the old one and gte the 200 quid fine/3 points...do you just get to drive off down the road or are you arrested and car taken back to station?

No, it always involves an arrest and a check down the station.

The media report is incorrect, it's not an on-the-spot fine, it's a fixed penalty notice.

It's actually a lot simpler. Between 50mg and 80mg, you get a fine and 3 points.

Between 80mg and 100mg, you get a fine and a 6 month disqualification.

The idea behind the fine + 3 points is to serve as a warning. You can only get this once in 3 years. Certainly if it happened to me, I would be counting my lucky stars and I wouldn't bloody dare even nearly drive after drinking again.

Wertz · 24-10-2011 01:27PM

Which begs the question: how do you "admit" to being above a limit. You can admit to having had a drink or drinks, but the limit is a measurement. Unless you mean a garda has you blow in the bag, it registers a preliminiary reading above the new limit and you agree with that rather than the evidential intoxilyser (sp?) back at the station... kind of like contesting a speeding fine in court.

Of course it makes no sense that if someone is over a limit that they can't just be allowed to drive on (they're now a danger apparently)...that's just the way it's coming across in anything I've read so far.
So if you admit to being over the 50mg, it's fine at the side of the road and drive on (but only once every 3 yrs)...or fine at the side of the road fixed penalty notice, leave the car there and get a taxi home...
Confusion reigns. Might be one to ask over in the ES forums...

[edit] Sorry missed your second post. Always an arrest.

This now increases workload on gardaí, since detection rates will be higher and arrest rate higher (for a while at least) this removes gardai from the roads for other things whilst they deal with the detainee.

seamus · 24-10-2011 01:30PM

Sorry Wertz, I was totally wrong, I've changed my post

Once you're over the limit, you're down the station.

Lord Derpington · 24-10-2011 02:01PM

stovelid wrote: »

What's this in non-gay alcohol units?

4 cans @4.2% or 3 cans @5%

mikom · 24-10-2011 02:38PM

seamus wrote: »

The idea behind the fine + 3 points is to serve as a warning.

Handy old money racket too.....

seamus · 24-10-2011 02:43PM

A €200 fine wouldn't cover the Gardai's time and cost in dealing with the offence.

All the claims of "money generating" are nonsense. Fixed penalty notices don't bring in very much money in the overall scheme of things.

mikom · 24-10-2011 02:45PM

seamus wrote: »

A €200 fine wouldn't cover the Gardai's time and cost in dealing with the offence.

It will bring in more than it did before the changes to the law.
That's the difference.

mconigol · 24-10-2011 03:46PM

People need to start drinking lower alcohol content drinks so....

sdanseo · 24-10-2011 03:48PM

It's this simple:

If you drink, even a thimbleful, don't drive.

Stick to that and you can't go wrong. ZERO sympathy for anyone stung the next day.

robbie_998 · 24-10-2011 03:50PM

sdeire wrote: »

It's this simple:

If you drink, even a thimbleful, don't drive.

Stick to that and you can't go wrong. ZERO sympathy for anyone stung the next day.

i agree completely

i've gotten the bus to work and what not a few times cos i had a few the night before..... didnt bother me in the slightest.

didnt mind leaving the vehicle at home at all regardless of how long it took me to get to work.

people need to grow up.

ziggyman17 · 24-10-2011 04:01PM

A guy I know works as a van driver for a well known delivery company.. About 8 months ago he got caught well over the limit.. Was arrested and was given a blood test at the station by a doctor.. He got a letter in the post saying he was over the legal limit, but as of yet he has'nt been brought to court, does anyone know if there is a backlog of these such cases ??

Helix · 24-10-2011 04:03PM

can we change the thread title to "drivers, don't fcuking drink when you're driving, even if you're driving the next day, or you run a good chance of rightfully losing your license"

Mongarra · 24-10-2011 04:07PM

That's ok if you have a bus service or taxi available. Not practical in most parts of country. Just have to lay off. Is that really such a problem for people?

Helix · 24-10-2011 04:09PM

Mongarra wrote: »

That's ok if you have a bus service or taxi available. Not practical in most parts of country. Just have to lay off. Is that really such a problem for people?

apparently, according to the reactions of some when this topic comes up, it's physically impossible not to drink. and it's their right to drink and drive if there's not a taxi around

obviously they're being forced to drink by the very government who is putting these new rules in place, so it's all a scam

heaven forbid they don't drink when they're not able to get home without driving. or even worse, that they aren't able to use the car til the middle of the next day after a big session

here's an idea for them; don't go on stupid sessions drinking your bodyweight in bloody booze

Oranage2 · 24-10-2011 04:10PM

I've drove home drunk the odd time and if anything I'm a better driver -

We should do something similar to Germany were you are only held responsible for drink driving if you're in a crash (at a certain blood alcohol level)

We should really be teaching responsible drink driving.

Mongarra · 24-10-2011 04:10PM

robbie_998 wrote: »

i agree completely

i've gotten the bus to work and what not a few times cos i had a few the night before..... didnt bother me in the slightest.

didnt mind leaving the vehicle at home at all regardless of how long it took me to get to work.

people need to grow up.

Sorry, forgot quote from robbie_998

Helix · 24-10-2011 04:11PM

Oranage2 wrote: »

I've drove home drunk the odd time and if anything I'm a better driver moron who deserves to be in a smash with a tree, rather than injuring someone innocent

fixed

and ill gladly take a ban for it

Drinkers, be careful on the roads from now on.

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