The bank holiday weekend is notorious for being heavily policed as its one of the most dangerous times to be driving on Irish roads.
With that in mind, yesterday Minister for Transport Shane Ross announced new drink driving laws would come into effect from today.
Any motorist who is found to be over the legal limit will be automatically disqualified from driving for three months and given a €200 fine.
Announcing the implementation of the Road Traffic Act yesterday, Minister Shane Ross said it is a "significant step in clamping down on the scourge of drink driving".
There are few more irresponsible and dangerous things people can do in everyday life than drink and drive. It was always wrong to give people the mild slap on the wrist of three penalty points for such potentially lethal behaviour, and it is a great satisfaction to know that in future people who behave this way will face a disqualification from driving for three months. Let me be clear – we are not interested in punishing people, what we want is for people to behave responsibly.
Drivers detected by a member of An Garda Síochána with between 50 milligrammes and 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, 107 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine, or 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, will be disqualified from holding a driving licence for a period of 3 months and receive a fine of €200.
Depending on the person and quantity of units consumed, alcohol tends to leave your system within a number of hours. A general estimate by Healthline indicates the following amounts :
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- Small shot of liquor - 1 hour
- Pint of beer - 2 hours
- Large glass of wine - 3 hours
The general rule of thumb is that your body will break down one unit of alcohol per hour.
Opposition for the bill was met from several TDs from the Rural Independent Group.
