Regardless of the truth that drunk-driving is known to be a fatal exercise, Garda (police) regulators in Ireland's Kerry region may soon let modest drunkenness slide. A ballot motion before the national Department of Justice, if approved, will allow drunk-driving, so long as the driver is only "moderately drunk." Kerry region lawmakers in southwest Ireland have already approved the measure by a vote of 5 to 3, with 12 absent.
Drunk-driving punished no longer
Drivers in rural Kerry county who are found to have more than the lawful amount of alcohol in their system will be given a pass, according to motion author Councilor Danny Healy-Rae. Healy-Rae reportedly drafted the legislation with older rural citizens in mind who will become remote at home and suffer depression if they have to fear losing their driver's license over "two or three drinks."
"I see the merit in having a stricter rule of law for when there's a massive volume of traffic and where there's busy roads with massive speed," Healy-Rae told Irish newspaper The Journal. "But on the roads I'm talking about, you couldn't do any more than 20 or 30 miles per hour and it's not a big deal. I don't see any big issue with it."
Helping individuals survive with alcohol
Healy-Rae said that there are a lot of older members in the community who are committing suicide since they are unable to drive after getting hit with a DUI. Isolation is a big problem in the area.
"All the wisdom and all the wit and all the culture that they had is being lost as a result," he said.
Critics decry drunk-driving regulation
Kerry Mayor Terry O'Brien holds a very different view of the county's drunk-driving regulation, saying it "doesn't make any sense" and is "incredibly dangerous." O'Brien also claims it places too much interpretive burden on barkeeps to determine whether a patron is only relatively drunk, versus severely impaired.
"I don't know what expertise one would have to look at someone in a bar to give them a permit to drive a car after any alcohol," O'Brien added.
Alcohol Action Ireland rep Conor Cullen is in O'Brien's corner with regards to the drunk-driving motion. He noted that anti-drunk-driving measures have lowered Ireland's road fatalities by 42 percent over the past four years. Cullen feels that the brand new drunk-driving permissiveness will only serve to tear down the work that has been done.
"Almost one in three crash deaths in Ireland are alcohol-related," Cullen said. "Even in small amounts, alcohol impairs driving ability - any amount of alcohol increases the risk of involvement in a fatal crash."
Drunk-driving punished no longer
Drivers in rural Kerry county who are found to have more than the lawful amount of alcohol in their system will be given a pass, according to motion author Councilor Danny Healy-Rae. Healy-Rae reportedly drafted the legislation with older rural citizens in mind who will become remote at home and suffer depression if they have to fear losing their driver's license over "two or three drinks."
"I see the merit in having a stricter rule of law for when there's a massive volume of traffic and where there's busy roads with massive speed," Healy-Rae told Irish newspaper The Journal. "But on the roads I'm talking about, you couldn't do any more than 20 or 30 miles per hour and it's not a big deal. I don't see any big issue with it."
Helping individuals survive with alcohol
Healy-Rae said that there are a lot of older members in the community who are committing suicide since they are unable to drive after getting hit with a DUI. Isolation is a big problem in the area.
"All the wisdom and all the wit and all the culture that they had is being lost as a result," he said.
Critics decry drunk-driving regulation
Kerry Mayor Terry O'Brien holds a very different view of the county's drunk-driving regulation, saying it "doesn't make any sense" and is "incredibly dangerous." O'Brien also claims it places too much interpretive burden on barkeeps to determine whether a patron is only relatively drunk, versus severely impaired.
"I don't know what expertise one would have to look at someone in a bar to give them a permit to drive a car after any alcohol," O'Brien added.
Alcohol Action Ireland rep Conor Cullen is in O'Brien's corner with regards to the drunk-driving motion. He noted that anti-drunk-driving measures have lowered Ireland's road fatalities by 42 percent over the past four years. Cullen feels that the brand new drunk-driving permissiveness will only serve to tear down the work that has been done.
"Almost one in three crash deaths in Ireland are alcohol-related," Cullen said. "Even in small amounts, alcohol impairs driving ability - any amount of alcohol increases the risk of involvement in a fatal crash."
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