Tougher drink-driving penalties and a ban on the use of hand-held mobile phones in cars will be included in the Road Traffic Bill to be brought to the Cabinet today by the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen. Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent, reports.
The Garda will be given powers to begin "mandatory alcohol testing" on drivers in random tests, Government sources promised last night.
The legislation will attempt to remove the "grey area" that has plagued drink-driving legislation up to now and which has forced gardaí to form the opinion that a driver is over the limit before stopping them. Drink-drivers currently can face bans of as little as three months if they are convicted of driving over the limit, but this minimum penalty is to be raised to six months.
Under the new Bill, drivers will be given the option of accepting an on-the-spot fine and an automatically imposed period off the road rather than going to court and facing judgment by a district judge, which could be harsher.
Furthermore, judges are to be given extra powers to increase disqualification periods as they see fit in cases where drivers have been repeatedly found to have driven with drink consumed.
The Road Traffic Bill will also include powers for Mr Cullen to ultimately deal with the 400,000 drivers who are currently on roads using provisional licences. However, the Minister does not intend to move to end provisional drivers' time on the roads until the current waiting list for driving tests is brought under control.
Drivers will be prosecuted if they are spotted by gardaí using hand-held mobile phones in their cars under the new legislation - an offence that six in every 10 drivers admitted to in a recent poll. However, the drivers of emergency service vehicles, such as gardaí, ambulance, etc - who use hand-held radios in many cases, and mobile phones at other times - will be exempt from the legislation.
The first attempt to impose a ban on the use of hand-held mobile phones in cars was made in 2002 by the then minister of State for the Department of the Environment, Bobby Molloy. However, it ran into legal difficulties quickly after it emerged that the legislation, as then drafted, meant that a driver could be prosecuted if they had a switched-on mobile in their vehicles, unless the vehicle was parked.
The Garda Commissioner referred the legislation to the Attorney General for clarification, particularly once it was realised that the proposed blanket ban would have included emergency services.
"These laws remove any doubt and strengthen Garda powers. Focus is on enforcement; this makes sure gardaí have necessary power to enforce," said a Department of Transport source last night.
"Reckless drivers, putting their lives and those of other road users at risk, are the target. There is no getting away from the statistics that show nine out of 10 road deaths can be directly attributed to irresponsible drivers."
The legislation to be debated by Ministers today will provide for the privatisation of speed cameras and the introduction of up to 300 of them on roads in the State.