asked the Minister for the Environment the number of deaths and serious injuries caused by drunken drivers in each of the last ten years.
Written Answers. - Drunken Drivers.
298.
Analyses of the contributory factors involved in road accidents are published annually by An Foras Forbartha in a report entitled Road Accident Facts, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library. While these reports do not ascribe detailed causative factors, they highlight the results of research both in this country and abroad, which clearly points to drunken driving being a major contributory factor in road accidents, particularly in the hours between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. As a general indication of the extent of the problem in Ireland, it has been reckoned that about five out of every ten drivers killed at night have blood alcohol levels exceeding the legal limit.