TD: Driving after a big meal as bad as too much booze
Healy-rae says eating too much as dangerous as drink on roads
EATING a big meal can impair driving as much as alcohol, a TD said yesterday.
Danny Healy-rae told an Oireachtas Transport Committee that motorists with full bellies are “a danger”. The Kerry politician and publican was objecting to proposals aimed at cracking down on drink-drivers in the new Road Traffic Act. He said: “If you eat too much and get in behind the wheel, you’re a danger on the road as you are likely to fall asleep. When I go home this evening I don’t eat going in behind the wheel as I know what it will do. “There could be many other reasons and causes of the accident as well the consumption of a small amount of alcohol.” Under the road traffic proposals, anyone found to be driving with a blood alcohol level of 50mg-80mg per 100ml be given an automatic ban. At presents disqualification orders are only imposed when the motorist is above that amount. Road Safety Authority chief, Moyagh Murdock said it is “disingenuous” to play down the impact of alcohol on driving. She said: “From our research, all 250 drivers who consumed alcohol and were involved in a fatal collision were deemed culpable. “The fact that other contributory factors were also identified in many of these collisions is ancillary to the current debate. “Yes, in some cases speed was a factor in addition to alcohol. In some cases fatigue was a factor. “It is disingenuous to say there is no evidence to say alcohol was a factor in collisions where the toxicology showed levels 51 to 80 [mg]. “It shows a lack of understanding of the effects of alcohol on the body.”