Irish Motorists Face Automatic Three Month Ban
Thursday, November 01, 2018
Irish Motorists Face Automatic Three Month Ban
New legislation came into effect in the Republic of Ireland last week. First-time drink-driving offenders will now be automatically banned from driving for three months if caught with between 50 – 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood (mg/100mL BAC) - equivalent to 0.22 - 0.35 milligrams of alcohol per litre of breath (mg/L BrAC).
Previously, drivers caught at these levels received three penalty points and a fine - but no driving ban.
Many drivers get behind the wheel the ‘morning after’, unwittingly over the legal blood-alcohol limit - with figures showing that one in eight drink-driving arrests in Ireland occur between 8am and 2pm.
If you drank four pints of medium-strong beer or four large glasses of wine, it could take as long as 14 hours for the alcohol to clear your system. If you drank between 9pm and 11pm, you may not be sober until 11am the following morning.
Alcohol is a factor in 38% of fatal crashes in Ireland. Studies show that if you drive while at the Irish limit you are five times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than when sober. Even with just one-fifth of the limit in your blood, you are still 37% more likely.
In 2017 an average of 180 drivers were arrested each week in Ireland on suspicion of driving under the influence, while enforcement statistics for the first nine months of 2018 show more than 6,500 Irish motorists were arrested due to suspected intoxication.
Developed by AlcoSense Laboratories in the UK, the award-winning AlcoSense Excel is a personal breathalyser enabling drivers to make an informed decision about when alcohol has cleared from their system, avoiding potentially fatal guesswork.
The AlcoSense Excel uses a smaller version of the identical fuel cell sensor found in several European and US police breathalysers, and can be set to any worldwide limit when driving abroad. In addition, just like Police breathalysers the AlcoSense Excel senses the volume of breath exhaled during the test and takes a reading after 1.2 litres of air - ensuring only the most accurate deep lung air is sampled, with easy-to-read on-screen prompts.
To improve accuracy even further, readings are fine-tuned according to temperature so even if there is the biggest snowfall for 30 years or the hottest summer on record, the Excel will compensate to ensure the correct reading. AlcoSense Excel is manufactured under ISO13485 conditions, the benchmark in medical device quality systems.
AlcoSense Managing Director Hunter Abbott, said: “Even one alcoholic drink can slow your reaction time, inhibit judgement, reduce concentration and affect motor skills such as eye, foot and hand co-ordination – increasing the likelihood of an accident.
“Following the law change in Ireland last week, using a personal breathalyser could save your licence and more importantly, could also save a life”.
