Rural Nite Bus and random breath testing.

One of the big stories of the last few days is that Eamon O’Cuiv has announced that the state will subsidies public transport for people to go home from Rural pubs. Now there is a lot of up roar about it. About how it is an election stunt, subsidising drinking yadda yadda. But it is all bull.

First things first. Is it an election stunt. That is debatable not the fact that it is an election year and that facilitating people get pissed does not have election merit. The debate is that it is a stunt.

One of the arguments that I have heard is that it is subsidising drinking. But no one makes this argument about Nite Buses in Dublin. In fact people call for more NiteBuses. Here is the basic argument in favour of city Nite buses.

That if more buses were provided then more people would leave the city center faster. Thus not get in fights or attacked and causing increased number in casualty and thus saving the state money in A&E and making people and the city safer.

Now what is the difference between the argument for these nite buses. By giving people an option not to drive. They will not drive and thus will not drink and drive and crash into trees and walls. Thus saving the state money in A&E and making people and the country safer.

So why do we have two separate views on the issue of night buses when the argument for them is virtually the same argument.

Drink Driving happens. I am from a rural area and people do drink and drive. When you live 4 miles from the pub you have 2 options. No drink and drink. Now we could say the fact that we can’t do anything but drink  is terrible and it probably is. But it is a fact. And a fact we can’t simply ignore it is not going away. We are a people who love to get pissed, how much you drink is a sign of pride, how many times have you started a conversation with the line “I was so pissed last night”. People are not going to buy coke, have designated drivers etc they will just flout the law. We simply have to deal with it.

The simple fact is that people are going to drink and drive. They are going to crash and they are going to die. This measure is going to stop that. And how much would it actually cost. Take the cost of sending a fire engine and an ambulance and a squad car to a crash site add to that the cost of emergency surgery. Add to that the cost of staying in hospital recovering (if lucky) add to that the cost of physiotherapy. Compare this to a rural bus service subsidised but not free that also will result in more jobs in rural areas (pub staff and bus drivers) and it very quickly does not look that expensive.

As for the measure that is bring this about the random breath testing. Now much critism has been placed on the fact that the random breath testing happens not only at night when the most accidents happen. But also on a Sunday morning when people are on the way to mass. Now it would make sense to just deploy Gardai at night time as it is the time of maximum accidents. But one thing that testing in the morning does. Is that is puts the fear of god in to people. It makes them think the testers are even more devious and out to get people it makes people more afraid of drinking to excess.