Gardaí to target drink drivers, speeders

Gardaí are to deploy extra officers over the bank holiday weekend to clamp down on drink driving and speeding.

There will be "extensive use" of checkpoints conducting random breath test on drivers across the State in an effort to cut road deaths. Gardai will also be targeting speeding drivers over the weekend, a Garda spokesman said.

According to statistics, a 1km/h reduction in speed results in a 2 per cent reduction in crashes that cause injuries, a 3 per cent reduction in collisions that cause serious injury and a 4 per cent reduction in fatal crashes.

"A small change in driver behaviour can therefore impact significantly in terms of road safety," the spokesman said.

"Alcohol is the second greatest contributory factor to road deaths and injuries and so Garda enforcement activity will also be prioritised on drink driving," he added.

Over last year's May bank holiday weekend six people died and seven people were seriously injured. There was total of 346 arrests for drink driving over the same period, which was almost double the normal weekly amount. Between Monday April 21st this year and Sunday April 27th last, a total of 360 drink driving incidents were recorded.

Gardaí also warned that fatigue contributes to road deaths and injuries. Motorists on long journeys have been advised to plan in advance and to stop if they feel tired.

Chairman of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) Noel Brett said this morning he "hoped and expected" legislation would be brought before Cabinet before the summer to reduce the blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) limit from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood.