10 August 2011
Submission of PARC Road Safety Group on Compulsory Testing of drivers involved in road traffic collisions
Road Traffic Bill 2011. - “Testing of unconscious driver involved in a road traffic collision”.
To Mr. Ciaran Lynch TD, Chair of Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture & Gaeltacht 10th August 2011
PARC Road Safety Group would like a provision included in the 2011 Road Traffic Bill currently being drafted to ensure that drivers involved in road traffic collisions resulting in death or injury to another are tested for alcohol. Drivers rendered unconscious in such serious collisions currently evade being tested under existing legislation - (Road Traffic Act 2010). This loophole must be closed.
For far too long in this country our legislation has been inadequate and has resulted in surviving drivers, who may have been the cause of death and serious injury on our roads, evading prosecution or indeed any penalty at all.
Members of An Garda Siochana and Doctors working in Accident and Emergency Departments have advised PARC Road Safety Group of their frustration in such circumstances. They regularly witness intoxicated drivers being admitted to hospital having been involved in serious road traffic collisions resulting in death and serious injury to others. They advise that they do not have the power to ensure that a blood sample is taken from these drivers to be tested later for alcohol, where these drivers are unconscious and are not in a position to consent to such samples being taken.
Circumstances such as these have resulted in very unsatisfactory outcomes for many of our families who have lost loved ones in road traffic collisions where the causative factors in such collisions were never established or were only partly established. In many instances no criminal proceedings are taken. In others, despite the criminal prosecutions, the full facts never emerge. In the interest of truth and justice, we must ensure that all surviving drivers involved in a crash resulting in death or injury to another are tested, excepting only those for whom such a test would be prejudicial to health.
In Northern Ireland this loophole has been closed . Police there retain specimens of blood taken from an unconscious driver until the person has regained consciousness. The driver is then asked to consent to the analysis of the specimen. If they refuse, it is an offence.
Research by Dr. Declan Bedford, Specialist in Public Health Medicine HSE was cited recently which indicated that only 8pc of surviving drivers involved in fatal road crashes in Ireland are tested for alcohol. These statistics must be reversed without any further delay.
In fatal collisions resulting in the death of a loved one in the recent past, it could never be determined if the surviving driver had been negligent, at fault or even over the limit. Our loved ones were tested under Coroner’s Law at Autopsy. However, in 9 out of 10 cases, the surviving driver, who may well have caused their death or catastrophic life-altering injury, avoided testing.
The legislation has let our families down.
Yours sincerely,
Susan Gray
Chairperson
PARC Road Safety Group
Submission of PARC Road Safety Group on Compulsory Testing of drivers involved in road traffic collisions
Road Traffic Bill 2011. - “Testing of unconscious driver involved in a road traffic collision”.
To Mr. Ciaran Lynch TD, Chair of Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Transport, Culture & Gaeltacht 10th August 2011
PARC Road Safety Group would like a provision included in the 2011 Road Traffic Bill currently being drafted to ensure that drivers involved in road traffic collisions resulting in death or injury to another are tested for alcohol. Drivers rendered unconscious in such serious collisions currently evade being tested under existing legislation - (Road Traffic Act 2010). This loophole must be closed.
For far too long in this country our legislation has been inadequate and has resulted in surviving drivers, who may have been the cause of death and serious injury on our roads, evading prosecution or indeed any penalty at all.
Members of An Garda Siochana and Doctors working in Accident and Emergency Departments have advised PARC Road Safety Group of their frustration in such circumstances. They regularly witness intoxicated drivers being admitted to hospital having been involved in serious road traffic collisions resulting in death and serious injury to others. They advise that they do not have the power to ensure that a blood sample is taken from these drivers to be tested later for alcohol, where these drivers are unconscious and are not in a position to consent to such samples being taken.
Circumstances such as these have resulted in very unsatisfactory outcomes for many of our families who have lost loved ones in road traffic collisions where the causative factors in such collisions were never established or were only partly established. In many instances no criminal proceedings are taken. In others, despite the criminal prosecutions, the full facts never emerge. In the interest of truth and justice, we must ensure that all surviving drivers involved in a crash resulting in death or injury to another are tested, excepting only those for whom such a test would be prejudicial to health.
In Northern Ireland this loophole has been closed . Police there retain specimens of blood taken from an unconscious driver until the person has regained consciousness. The driver is then asked to consent to the analysis of the specimen. If they refuse, it is an offence.
Research by Dr. Declan Bedford, Specialist in Public Health Medicine HSE was cited recently which indicated that only 8pc of surviving drivers involved in fatal road crashes in Ireland are tested for alcohol. These statistics must be reversed without any further delay.
In fatal collisions resulting in the death of a loved one in the recent past, it could never be determined if the surviving driver had been negligent, at fault or even over the limit. Our loved ones were tested under Coroner’s Law at Autopsy. However, in 9 out of 10 cases, the surviving driver, who may well have caused their death or catastrophic life-altering injury, avoided testing.
The legislation has let our families down.
Yours sincerely,
Susan Gray
Chairperson
PARC Road Safety Group