How big a problem is drink driving in Ireland?

Ireland has a chronic drink driving problem. 18,851 drivers were arrested on suspicion of drink driving in 2007. A total of 18,053 drivers were arrested on suspicion of drink driving in 2008. That’s an average of around 347 drivers arrested each week for drink driving in the Republic of Ireland. Ireland is ranked among the highest alcohol consuming countries in the EU (Health Research Board, 2007).

An alcohol related driver fatality is one in which a blood alcohol level of 20mg/100ml (or the equivalent in urine and breath tests) is present in a driver.

Report No 1.

A study (Bedford, et al, 2004) found that:

• Of the total number of drivers killed, a third had alcohol detected in their blood and a quarter of drivers were above the legal limit. All drivers detected with alcohol in their blood were male.

Report No 2.

A report (Bedford, et al, 2005) found:

• Drink driving is a male problem – 90% of driver / riders, whose alcohol was a contributory factor in a fatal crash, were male.
• Alcohol is estimated to be a contributory factor in 1 in 3 fatal collisions.
• Driver / rider alcohol consumption is estimated to be a factor in 28% of fatal crashes.
• Driver alcohol was a factor in 62% of single-vehicle, single occupant fatal crashes.
• 21% of fatal road crashes that happen between 6am and 12 noon are alcohol related.
• Weekends through to Monday morning are the high risk period for alcohol-related fatal crashes.
• Almost a quarter of the drivers killed on our roads, where alcohol was present, were under the legal limit when they died.

Report No 3.

A cross border report (CAWT, 2006) found:

• The most common contributory factor in all fatal collisions occurring between 2001 and 2004 in the Republic’s border counties and Meath was the consumption of alcohol (37.4%).
• Of the drivers involved in a fatal single-vehicle collision, almost three in five (57.3%) are known to have consumed alcohol.

Report No 4.

A recent HSE study into alcohol harm in Ireland has also established that:

• Between 1990 and 2006 there were a total of 7,078 people killed on the roads of which 2,462 (35%) were alcohol related.

(HSE, April 2008, Alcohol related harm in Ireland, pages 12 to 18)

Report No 5

A report on single vehicle collisions in County Kildare (McGovern, et al, 2006) found that:

• In an analysis of 143 fatalities from single vehicle collisions in the county over a ten year period to 2005, alcohol was present in 54% of drivers killed.

Report No 6.

A study (Bedford, et al, 2008) of the years 2003 to 2005 by the HSE on drink driving in Ireland found that in this three year period:

• 1 in 3 crashes were alcohol related • Where BACs were available for killed drivers over half (58%) had alcohol in their blood
• In 1 in 4 crashes, the driver had consumed alcohol
• 1 in 4 pedestrian deaths related to their own alcohol intake
• The research confirms that weekends through to Monday continue to be the high risk period for alcohol related fatal crashes
• 1 in every 2 alcohol related crashes occur on Saturdays and Sundays
• 2 out of every 3 alcohol related crashes occur between 10pm on Friday night and 8am on Monday morning.

Continue reading: Drink Driving in Ireland - Part 2.