Gardaí detect 170 people drink driving over long weekend as part of enforcement operation

Gardaí detected 170 people driving under the influence of an intoxicant over the long weekend as part of a bank holiday road safety operation, according to figures released on social media.

During the 24-hour period between 7am on Friday and Saturday, 28 drivers were suspected of diving under the influence. That number rose to 55 for the same period between Saturday and Sunday, 51 from Sunday to Monday and 36 from 7am on Monday to the same time on Tuesday.

As part of the enforcement operation, gardaí set up a number of mandatory intoxicant testing checkpoints across the country. According to gardaí social media accounts, a checkpoint in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, resulted in four arrests for suspected driving while intoxicated, while a similar operation in Jigginstown, Co Kildare, saw two people arrested on suspicion of drink driving.

Checkpoints in Oranmore, Co Galway, and Terenure, Co Dublin, saw no detections. The bank holiday road safety operation continues until 7am on Wednesday.

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Over the weekend, three people died in traffic incidents, taking this year’s total number of road deaths to 103.

A member of the Irish Road Victims Association has accused “some TDs” of promoting drinks and who say that it is okay to have one drink and then drive.

“They say there’s no harm in that and then if someone dies in their constituency, they offer sympathy. That’s no good to us. We want action. We want prevention.”

Leo Leighio was speaking on Newstalk Breakfast after details emerged that a motorist was arrested on average every 30 minutes over the bank holiday weekend for suspected drink or drug driving.

Mr Leighio, whose daughter Marsia was killed in a hit and run road accident in 2005, said that more needed to be done to educate people on the dangers of drink driving. Instead of doubling fines, penalty points should be doubled and cars confiscated, he urged.

Car manufacturers could also do more, he said. Why were cars being made that could be driven at very high speeds when the speed limit was 120 kilometres per hour? The technology existed where a car could not start if the driver did not pass a test similar to a breathalyser, it should be included in every car.

Mr Leighio said that the statistics from the weekend were not surprising because “the enforcement is not there.” The gardaí simply did not have the numbers to monitor the roads more closely.

“Something has to be done between drink driving and speeding. The numbers are going sky high and the number of deaths have gone sky high, and that’s the highest in over six years.”

Mr Leighio said that in Ireland there was a lax attitude to drink driving.

“There is no question that when someone gets killed there’s an uproar over it for a couple of days and then it’s all forgotten. The law is too lackadaisical. The driver gets a slap on the wrist but the families are the ones who suffer for years and years, forever.”