Breath tests called for at crash scenes.

The research was carried out by a public health specialist with the Health Service Executive Dr Declan Bedford who examined files on 599 crashes in which a driver survived. In 92 per cent of cases, or 551 crashes, he could find no evidence the driver was tested for alcohol.

The crashes examined in the study include those where a passenger, pedestrian, cyclist or other motorist was killed.

It was based on material gathered for the report Alcohol in Fatal Road Crashes in Ireland 2003 to 2005 published by Dr Bedford based on coroners’ reports on fatal crashes.

The Road Safety Authority and groups such as the Public Against Road Carnage (Parc) have long sought the introduction of mandatory testing of drivers at crash sites as the current legislation obliges a garda to form an opinion that a driver has consumed alcohol.

The Road Traffic Bill 2009, published last month, provides for mandatory testing at crashes where someone is injured.

However, some discretion remains for gardaí under this Bill which states a garda doesn’t have to request one if “in the opinion of the member [garda], the person is incapable of complying with the requirement as a consequence of the person’s involvement in the event”.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said the reason mandatory tests applied only to crashes where a person required medical treatment, rather than all crashes, was based on advice from the Attorney General and An Garda.

“The legal advice from the AG’s office is that this is as far as we can go,” he told The Irish Times. The wording of the Bill also seeks to avoid requiring gardaí to be called to every minor collision, he added.

Susan Gray, founder of Parc, called for the mandatory testing of all drivers involved in a collision, saying some drivers may downplay the extent of their injuries to avoid being tested.

“We are not getting a true picture for the role that alcohol plays in either fatal crashes or serious crashes in this country.

“We will not get this true picture until such time as all drivers that have been involved in a collision where gardaí attend are tested.”

It has emerged that an aide memoire for gardaí attending crash sites makes no mention of trying to assess whether the driver involved in the crash had consumed alcohol.

Source: David Labanyi, The Irish Times, 25/11/2009