What are the penalties for drink driving offences?

Penalties of automatic disqualification, period of imprisonment and fines already exist for drink-driving convictions in court, but will be amended to take account of the lower BAC levels :

New BAC and Disqualification Periods, on Conviction in Court

As an alternative to a court prosecution, section 26 of the Bill provides for an administrative fixed penalty in the case of certain drink driving offences. Learner, novice and professional drivers detected at BAC levels 20+ to 80mg, and other drivers detected at BAC levels 50+ to 80mg will be will be served with a fixed penalty notice, provided they are not currently disqualified and have not availed of the administrative fixed penalty option in the past 5 years. If the fixed penalty is paid, court proceedings will not be initiated, and the penalty points or a disqualification in the Table below will be applied :

BAC – New Administrative Fixed Penalties

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What about mandatory testing at collisions?

Section 8 provides for mandatory testing of drivers involved in road traffic collisions.

The Bill seems to duplicate existing provisions on drink driving, eg in relation to Mandatory Alcohol Testing

Yes, existing drink-driving provisions in a number of Road Traffic Bills have been restated in this Bill in a consolidated and clearer format, and the current provisions will be repealed.

Does the Bill deal with driving under the influence of drugs?

Driving under the influence of drugs is already an offence under the Road Traffic Acts. To aid the Garda Síochána in detection, section 10 gives them powers to carry out Preliminary Impairment Tests (for example coordination tests) that will determine whether a driver is under the influence of an intoxicant, including drugs.

What kind of testing will be used?

Theses will be prescribed by the Minister in Regulations. Examples used in other jurisdictions are co-ordination tests (such as walking a straight line), checking if the pupils of the eyes are dilated, etc.