Drink Driving In Ireland: Finding A Solution That Suits…

You may or may not have heard that the Irish government has recently decided to toughen up on drink driving offenders in the Emerald isle.

Drivers caught under the influence will now get a minimum one year ban from the road, as opposed to the previous minimum sentence of three months, with the maximum ban being pushed up to six years from the previous four years.

Here’s a statistic for you - the number of alcohol related incidents in Ireland actually increased by about 30% between 2005 and 2006!

Certainly adds weight to the government’s measures doesn’t it? We reckon that being hard on drink drivers is the only way to go, as they are putting the lives of themselves and others in danger. Whatever way you look at it, getting into a car and hitting the road while under the influence is unacceptable behaviour.

Having said that, the issue of drink driving is a curious one in our Emerald Isle. In years gone by, everyone was at it. Many of our fathers in the country would drive into town, have a few pints and motor back home.

Dangerous and irresponsible? Certainly… but that’s the way it was, particularly in rural areas where the social meeting place was (and still is) the pub in town. People living out in the middle of nowhere would look forward to a chance to meet with friends, have the craic and a few pints, then drive on home.

You might well hear an old fellow remark that the glory days of motoring along to the pub, having a few jars, and sloping off home are over. And you’ll get plenty a publican begrudgingly acknowledge that there trade has gone into decline since the government has clamped down on drink driving. (Though you certainly won’t get any complaints from taxi drivers!)

Of course nowadays this practise of driving home after a session in the pub is in decline, with the government and the Gardai (Irish police) taking the hard line, targeting boozed up motorists and late night offenders.

And proper order too… the old arguments and excuses aren’t acceptable. You may well hear people say that having a few won’t do any harm,  but it’s been proven that having a blood alcohol count of over 0.8 (the legal limit) impairs driving capabilities.

In a country tormented by road accidents there’s no room for error and we can’t afford to be complacent. However, these government measures don’t acknowledge the sense of social isolation that many people in the country feel, because they can’t get down to the pub for a few pints with their pals. On top of this, more and more people are being forced out to the countryside these days, especially with the astronomical prices of Irish town houses today…

And let’s face it, the Irish social scene generally does go hand in hand with alcohol – if you live out in the sticks and have no way of getting home from the boozer then you’re out on your own.

Now, as we’ve said, we certainly don’t think that taking the hard line on drink driving is a bad thing. But we do believe that counter measures should be put into action to combat the ill effects on the rural publican and his former patrons. The government has been juggling the idea of introducing ‘drop off’ buses for rural areas.

These buses will embark on circular routes around the hinterlands of rural towns to drop people off after closing hours. We think it’s a great idea – people living in isolated areas will be able to enjoy a few drinks, and pubs will regain some of the income lost.

The benefits to the pub trade are obvious, and such an effort to curb the sense of social exclusion that many rural people now feel will surely have a good effect on the well being of the country.

Now, we’re aware of the argument that these services will just wind up as ‘booze buses’ for drunken delinquents and other miscreants. However, the fact of the matter is that most of the alcohol related misbehaviour in rural Ireland occurs after nightclubs close (between 2am to 3am).

If these buses depart around midnight when the pubs kick out, they’ll soak up most of the older generation and the slightly(!) more restrained drinkers – basically those that are more likely to be concerned about how and when they get home. Late night revellers and disco kids can get their taxi back as usual, while the ‘drop off’ bus sees to the pub goer.

Foolproof? Not too far off it. The revenue the pub industry will make in Ireland certainly justifies government investment in the scheme – and the sooner it’s put into action the better we reckon.

We’ll keep you posted on further news on the issue, and in the mean time we’d be delighted to hear what you think about it all… so give us a shout if you’ve got any questions, suggestions or things to add… just drop us an email.