Call for legislation to tackle drink-driving legal logjam
Drink-driving cases before the courts must be speeded up to secure prosecutions, the Dáil heard today.
Up to 5,000 cases are stuck in a legal logjam due to High Court challenges to the new intoxyliser testing process which replaced the old breath-test bags.
A judge in Cork District Court last week dismissed one drink-driving case because more than three years had elapsed since the original arrest.
Judge Con O’Leary ruled that too much time had elapsed to expect witnesses like gardaí and doctors involved in the proceedings to rely on their notes and not their memory.
Up to 300 other court proceedings involving the intoxyliser device in the southern area and thousands more nationwide are now at risk of being dismissed.
Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton said the Government had promised to introduce legislation to speed up the delay in suspected drink-drivers going to trial.
Mr Bruton said: “There is an extraordinary lack of urgency on addressing the delay between bringing charges and taking the case to trial.”
Greens leader Trevor Sargent added: “I’m calling for legislation on the matter. We don’t want the place overrun with drunk drivers.”
Tánaiste Mary Harney said she would raise the matter with the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen.
Fine Gael later claimed that the rate of drink-driving prosecutions had plummeted by 38% since the current Government first took power in 1997.
Transport spokesperson Olivia Mitchell warned that thousands of motorists who flouted the drink driving laws will be let off without charge, and may now re-offend without fear of prosecution.
“This legal challenge is a nail in the coffin of the Government’s current Road Safety Strategy, which has failed totally to tackle the carnage on the roads,” she said.
According to the Fine Gael figures, the conviction rate fell from 58% in 1997 to 36% last year.
Ms Mitchell added: “Current legislation has too many loopholes, and this is where responsibility lies with the Government.”
In 2002 the second FF/PD Programme for Government promised that a renewed three-year Road Safety Strategy will be introduced to target speeding, drink-driving, seatbelt-wearing and pedestrian safety in order to significantly reduce road deaths and injuries.
“The new Road Traffic Bill will introduce tough new measures, but is likely to face even tougher legal challenges,” added the Dublin TD.
“The legal system needs watertight legislation to ensure that drink-driving offenders are successfully prosecuted.
“The Government’s failure to address road safety is now so serious that the Taoiseach should take personal responsibility for this issue.”
