Gardaí arrest 26 for drink driving on Good Friday

Gardaí said today 153 people were arrested for drink driving over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

Assistant Garda Commissioner John Twomey said 26 people were arrested on Good Friday, a day when "the vast majority of licensed premises are closed".

Mr Twomey of the Garda National Traffic Bureau also outlined a recent drink driving enforcement operation which targeted ten rural towns and two areas within Dublin city where gardaí set up a series of mandatory alcohol checkpoints.

“We advertised it in advance to let people know we would be doing it. While we didn’t give them the specific locations, we did say that we would be out there targeting particular areas,” he said.

“In that hour between 12.30am and 1.30am, nine people were arrested for drink driving.”

The Assistant Commissioner also spoke about the upcoming special operation this week which will target motorists using mobile phones while driving.

“The risk and the dangers posed by holding and using a mobile phone while driving are such that you put yourself and others at risk,” he said, adding that research shows there is a four-fold increase in the risk of having a collision when using a mobile phone.

"Unfortunately, mobile phone use while driving is becoming a real challenge to An Garda Síochána and is now the second-highest offence that has been detected." The highest is speeding.

Almost 10,000 drivers have been detected holding a mobile phone while driving in the first three months of this year.

In 2013 there were more than 28,000 people detected.

Provisional figures from a national phone operation carried out in March 2014 found there has been a 300 per cent increase in the number of people using their phones while driving.

This week’s operation, which will be conducted by gardaí this Thursday and Friday, will issue fixed charge notices of €60 and penalty points to those caught on their phones while driving.

“Our message is there’s no call or no text that is that important that you should put your own life or the life of other road users at risk,” said Mr Twomey.

“The risks and the dangers are there for everybody to see, we need to become aware and we need to address this.”

"I'm asking all of your listeners to be aware of the dangers and the risks," he added. "We will be out there enforcing the road traffic act and will continue to work tirelessly to improve road safety," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.