One in 12 drivers in crash or near miss due to alcohol - survey
A new survey shows people are still continuing to drink and drive.
Almost one in 12 Irish motorists have been involved in a collision or experienced a near miss as a result of a road user operating their vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
A recent AA Car Insurance survey of over 6,000 motorists found that 7.39% of those surveyed had been involved in a near miss or collision where they or another road user were driving under the influence of alcohol. Just under 2% of those surveyed reported being involved in one such incident with the past year, while 4.31% stated that they had been involved in at least one such incident over a year ago.
Of those who reported being involved in a near miss or collision because of drink-driving, over a quarter (25.05%) occurred on secondary roads, while 17.41% took place on primary or main roads.
The survey also found that 16.99% of such incidents occurred on minor roads, a point which the AA argues highlights the need for increased Garda resources to police drink-driving in these areas.
"Unfortunately there’s a cohort there that either doesn’t listen to or doesn’t care about, or simply doesn’t believe the road safety evidence," he said.
"They’re willing to take a risk because they don’t think it will happen to them. Unfortunately it’s probably easier to convince these people that they’re going to be caught than it is to convince them that they’re going to have a crash.
"Investment in the gardaí in the AA’s view is the most important measure."
Last year, AA Research found that 70% of motorists support the introduction of automatic driving bans for anyone driving over the legal limit of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
