48 people arrested over drink or drug driving in 24 hours

Gardaí have said that 48 people have been arrested on suspicion of drink or drug driving across the country during a 24-hour period up to mid-morning.

A total of 106 motorists have been arrested during the period since 7am on Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, a total of 197 incidents of speeding have been detected by speed cameras so far this bank holiday weekend.

Roads policing gardaí have again appealed to motorists to have safety uppermost in their minds while driving as the number of road deaths this year reaches 71 – up 18 on the same period in 2023.

Speed, drink and drug driving and mobile phone use remain contributory factors in many road collisions, according to gardaí, who said the amount of people engaging in such behaviour is “a concern”.

As part of the latest road safety campaign, roads policing officers mounted a major checkpoint outside Kilkenny city this morning and made a new appeal for caution, with other checkpoints being placed at various points on roads around the country.

‘Speed a big contributing factor’

“One of our biggest risks at the moment is speed,” roads policing officer for Kilkenny-Carlow Inspector Paul Donoghue said.

He said: “Speed is a big contributing factor to a lot of fatalities and serious injury traffic accidents.

“Our members across the division are catching a lot of high speeds, on all roads, national routes, regional roads and motorways.

“People are driving in excess of speed limits and we know from our statistics that speed is a major contributing factor to all accidents. So we’d ask people to slow down and stay within the speed limits.”

Inspector Donoghue said mobile phone use and consequent driver distraction is also a worry.

He said: “We all know people in society are using mobile phones every minute of the day, walking down the streets and everything.

“What’s happening now is people are thinking they can drive cars and use their mobile phones.

“People reading text messages, trying to text message, reading social media, it’s absolutely crazy behaviour on our roads.

“They’re putting their own lives and other people’s lives in danger. We’d ask people – you just can’t do both, you can’t drive and use your mobile phone.”

Road deaths up 18 on 2023

Road deaths are up to 71 so far this year – an increase of 18 on the same period last year.

“The trend is not good and An Garda Síochána are trying their best to try and change that,” Inspector Donoghue said.

“Enforcement is a big part of it but also trying to educate people, trying to educate our drivers across the division. Talks in schools, talks in GAA clubs, rugby clubs, sporting clubs, and talking to the young drivers of today to try to encourage them to be safer on our roads,” he added.