What are the current penalties for drink driving?

For drink driving offences, the disqualification periods range from 1 to 6 years depending on the level of alcohol detected, and whether it is a first or subsequent offence.

The offence of refusing to provide a sample of blood, urine, or breath for evidential purposes will attract an automatic disqualification of 4 years for a first offence and 6 years for a second or subsequent offence.

What will the penalties be for drink driving at the new lower limit?

The Government has indicated that it requires drink driving penalties to be proportionate to the new (and existing) BAC level. Existing legislation provides for the introduction of administrative procedures for dealing with drink driving detections. There is scope for further development. For example, the use of rehabilitation and road safety courses and the introduction of Alcolocks* for offences at the lower limit.

* An Alcolock is a device fitted to car ignitions which requires the driver to blow into a tube to determine whether his/her blood alcohol concentration is within a limit that is safe to drive. If it is above a certain limit, the engine will not start.

Why is breath testing used to measure the level of alcohol?

The measurement of drivers’ BAC is most often not based on a measurement of the blood content. However it is more common now for drivers to be asked to blow into an evidential breath testing device (EBT) and their lung air is analysed.

The legal breath alcohol concentration of 0.35m/l corresponds to a BAC of 0.08g/dL in Ireland whilst the 0.05g/dL limit in other countries corresponds to 0.22m/l.

In certain circumstances blood and / or urine measurements are also used.

Continue reading: Drinking and Driving in the EU