NEARLY 200 people were arrested for driving under the influence of drink or drugs across the bank holiday weekend according to gardaí.
An extensive Garda Roads Policing Operation was in place between 7am on Thursday, May 2 to 7am on Tuesday, May 7, during which one fatal collision occurred and nine “serious injury collisions” left ten people with serious and life-threatening injuries.
Since January 1, 2024, 71 people have been killed on Irish roads, which is 15 more lives lost in road traffic collisions than this time last year, the police force confirmed this week.
Officers carried out more than 1,090 Mandatory Intoxicant Testing (MIT) checkpoints over the bank holiday weekend, which saw 5,349 roadside drug and alcohol tests conducted by Gardaí leading to the arrest of 196 people for driving under the influence of an intoxicant.
The figures equate to one arrest during each hour of the garda enforcement operation.
Over the course of the weekend, Gardaí caught 900 drivers speeding using hand held speed detectors.
“The vast majority of road users supported our operation over the long weekend to keep people safe, but it is of real concern that almost 200 drivers were arrested for driving under the influence,” Chief Superintendent, Jane Humphries of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau, said this week.
"There is only so many ways that we can say this, and we won’t be polite about it – never, never, ever get behind the wheel of a car while under the influence of drink or drugs. Any day, any time.”
She added: "The financial penalty, prospect of losing your licence or criminal offence and time in prison might not be enough of a deterrent to some but the potential of causing serious and/or fatal injuries to yourself as well as others should be enough to stop you.”
