Gardaí arrest 411 for drink driving last week

More than 400 motorists were arrested last week for drink driving, according to the latest Garda statistics.

Between October 9th and October 15th, some 411 drink driving incidents were recorded.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is considered one of the biggest causes of injuries and fatalities on Irish roads.

Mandatory breath testing for alcohol was introduced in August in a bid to counter drink driving. That month, 323 people were arrested for drink-driving over the bank holiday weekend - a rate of about three per hour.

Road deaths are falling, but it is too early to say yet if mandatory breath testing is having a significant impact. So far this year, 292 people have died on Irish roads, compared with 311 for the same period a year ago.

When penalty points were introduced in November 2002, there was a sharp fall in road deaths for the final two months of the year, and in the following year. In 2002, road deaths dropped to 376 from 411 the year before, while 335 died in 2003.

This trend was reversed in 2004, when 374 people were killed on Irish roads, and again in 2005, with 396 deaths.

However, road deaths in August fell to 17 from 25 the year before, while September's fatalities came in at 22, making it one of the statistically best since 2000.

Fine Gael is planning to put new road safety proposals before the Dáil tonight, with plans for mandatory breath testing for all drivers involved in a crash included in the measures. The plan also calls for harsher measures for dangerous driving, and drug testing of drivers.

The party's transport spokeswoman, Olivia Mitchell, welcomed a planned crackdown on speeding, with 400 of the country's most dangerous roads being targeted by gardaí.

"I hope this indicates that law enforcement agencies are taking a more scientific approach to road safety by targeting the causes of accidents," she said.

"However, there are still far too many loopholes in our road traffic legislation, such as the lack of clearly delineated penalties for dangerous driving, which is the most serious driving offence."