Ireland had a huge drink-driving problem. Here's how they tried to fix it

In the mid-2000s, Ireland had a problem that will sound all too familiar to people living in Malta.

Drink-driving had been ingrained in the country’s culture for decades, being seen as socially acceptable by many. Malta finds itself in a similar position today, with police still relying on suspicion-based testing rather than random checks.

The Irish government decided a behaviour shift was needed. In 2006, it passed the Road Traffic Act, which gave police the power to require drivers to undergo breathalyser tests at checkpoints, without the need for prior suspicion of alcohol consumption.

This was a landmark change in enforcement strategy against drink-driving, moving from suspicion-based testing to allowing random, systematic checks aimed at deterring drink-driving by increasing the risk for motorists of getting caught.

Subsequent acts brought in between 2011 and 2024 further expanded testing powers, introduced blood tests for incapacitated drivers, and implemented stricter penalties.

The results appear to have been instant. Figures from Ireland’s police force and the Road Safety Association show alcohol-related fatal collisions fell from 28.3 per cent in 2005 to 15.5 per cent in 2007. By 2019, the country had seen a 40 per cent drop in overall traffic-related deaths.

Thirty years earlier, Australia became the world leader in random breath testing (RBT). The practice was introduced in the state of Victoria in 1976, albeit limited in scope and application.

Six years later, New South Wales implemented RBT with high intensity, widespread publicity and significant enforcement from the start. The programme featured high visibility checkpoints in unpredictable locations and consistent police presence on the roads.

RBT contributed to a 35 per cent reduction in alcohol-related traffic fatalities between 1981 and 2006.

This was a landmark change in enforcement strategy against drink-driving, moving from suspicion-based testing to allowing random, systematic checks aimed at deterring drink-driving by increasing the risk for motorists of getting caught

In both countries, testing was accompanied by hard-hitting media campaigns that increased the public’s awareness that they could get stopped by police at any time and place and contributed to drink-driving being seen as socially unacceptable.

In Ireland, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits were lowered from 80mg/100ml to 50mg/100ml for most drivers, and to 20mg/100ml for learner and novice drivers.

Malta implemented the same reduction from 80mg/100ml to 50mg/100ml in 2018, bringing it in line with most EU member states.

Both countries also increased the penalties for drinking and driving.

A 2014 study by researchers at the Australian Institute of Criminology concluded that police should aim to breathtest a large proportion of drivers each year, since direct contact with RBT has the strongest impact on drink-driving.

Speaking to Times of Malta, Sheila Gilheany, CEO of Alcohol Action Ireland, noted that while her organisation supports random breath testing, the measure had to be backed up with resources to ensure a high level of testing.

While Ireland’s approach was considered pioneering in Europe when it was introduced, the country now has one of the lowest rates of testing on the continent, resulting in one in 10 drivers in the country admitting to drink-driving.

Calls for random testing grow in Malta

Together with the UK and Germany, Malta is an exception in Europe when it comes to the testing of motorists, with reasonable suspicion of driving under the influence being required to carry out a breathalyser test.

However, that is set to end with the government announcing on Tuesday that it plans to bring in random roadside testing for drugs and alcohol, among a raft of other changes to toughen drink-driving laws and penalties. 

It followed weeks of pressure after a spate of traffic accidents on Malta’s roads led to an increasing number of individuals and organisations calling for the introduction of random testing legislation.

In a recent inquiry into the death of a motorcyclist who was found to have cocaine in his system, Magistrate Joe Mifsud endorsed a 2023 position paper co-written by NGO Doctors For Road Safety, the Maltese Association of Psychiatry and the Foundation for Welfare Services on drug-driving under the influence of psychoactive drugs.

Mifsud endorsed each of the paper’s eight recommendations, including the introduction of a legal framework to enable random drug testing for psychoactive substances, as well as the random screening of professional drivers, such as taxi, school bus, coach and heavy machinery drivers.

Emergency physician Jonathan Joslin also went public with calls for random roadside testing, telling parliamentarians they would have blood on their hands if they failed to do so. 

In the ensuing weeks, several lobby groups - from catering lobbies to the chamber of advocates - publicly declared that they backed the switch to random roadside testing.