Lower drink limits hit the spot with Kerry drivers

THE new lower drink driving limits appear to have had an instant impact on drivres across the county.

Over the bank holiday weekend just seven people were arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

Gardaí, who rolled out extra checkpoints across the county, said the number of arrests was down on previous bank holidays and attributed the dip to the new lower limits.

In the Killarney garda district there was just one arrest for drunk driving all weekend and local gardaí said the new limits had "obviously frightened people."

In the Cahersiveen district, which covers the majority of south Kerry, there were no drunk driving arrests at all, which local gardaí said was "unusual" and that people were "obviously a bit more aware of the law."

The Tralee District, which also covers West Kerry, saw two drunk driving arrests, which was described as "a slight drop."

The most arrests were made in North Kerry where gardaí in the Listowel District arrested four suspected drunk drivers. While much higher than in the rest of the county, local gardaí said the figure was "not unusually high for a bank holiday."

The new legislation, which came into effect from midnight last Thursday saw the introduction of a new breath test limit of 22mgs of alcohol - down from 35mgs - per 100mls of breath for an experienced driver, and nine mgs of alcohol per 100mls of breath for learner and professional drivers.

The new blood test limit has been set at 50mgs of alcohol - previously 80mgs - per 100mls of blood for experienced drivers, and 20mgs of alcohol per 100mls of blood for learner and professional drivers, while the new urine test limit is 67mgs of urine - reduced from 107mgs - per 100mls of urine for experienced drivers, and 27mgs of alcohol per 100mls of urine