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AUTHORITIES HAVE LAUNCHED its annual road safety appeal for the Christmas period, after figures to date indicate that there has been a 133% increase in the number of people driving under the influence of drugs.
Last weekend, when the campaign commenced, Gardaí detected 85 people driving under the influence of alcohol and 26 driving under the influence of drugs.
Despite traffic volumes being reduced by up to 70% at times this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a 133% increase in the amount of people detected driving under the influence of drugs on our roads (that’s 2,537 incidents detected to date compared to 1,192 detections for the same period in 2019).
As speed is another major contributor to road traffic collisions, Gardaí are advising the public to drive within the speed limit.
An Garda Síochána, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the Department of State for International and Road Transport and Logistics launched the campaign today which will primarily focus on detecting those who drive after having taken alcohol or drugs.
The campaign began last Friday 4 December and will run until Tuesday 5 January, when Gardaí say they will have a “visible enforcement presence around the country”.
As part of the Christmas and New Year Safety campaign An Garda Síochána will also conduct a ‘National Slow Down Day’ on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 December to detect those speeding on our roads.
With reduced traffic on our roads we have increased speed detections by 26% this year (119,673 to 151,055).
Statements from Gardaí,
Speaking today, Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman said that Ireland is now the second safest country in the European Union.
“Unfortunately however, despite the fact that traffic volumes were reduced during periods of lockdown, 136 people have lost their lives on our roads in 2020.
Our members will continue to enforce all road traffic legislation with a particular emphasis on lifesaver offences, including driving under the influence, speeding, seatbelt and mobile phone use.
“An Garda Síochána would ask all road users to remember the basics of road safety. Our message is clear – do not drive if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or a combination of both.
Please keep safe this Christmas.
Liz O’Donnell, chair of the Road Safety Authority, said that the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs can be “devastating”.
I would appeal to anyone about to drive after drinking alcohol to stop and wait until they are alcohol free and safe to drive. If you see a friend or family member about to drive while under the influence, please intervene, offer to get them a taxi or if necessary, call the Gardaí.
“Allowing someone drive while under the influence is simply not worth the risk. We want everyone to enjoy the festive period, but we want people to do so sensibly and safely.”
Minister Naughton commented: “We expect to see a lifting of the national travel restrictions on Friday 18 December. For many, this will allow us to visit and meet with our families and friends again. This will inevitably mean that the roads will be very busy.
“Don’t forget that pedestrians will have to socially distance when walking on footpaths and the roadside where there are none. A safe and peaceful Christmas is something we can all enjoy if we practice good road safety habits.”
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That’s cos checkpoints are up 113% this year lol
@Sazzle: correct, and the pubs were closed.
@Sazzle: Correct.. the article should read 133% more caught this year.
Well in 2017 the garda falsely stated they carried out 400k breath checks and many check points.
Maybe the same branch involved has something to do with these figures.
“Gardaí say” says it all!
The risk of loosing ones licence due to being stopped and issued to use the drager drug detection unit when the LOD is 1ng of cannabis is unjustified and wrong. Such low levels, from consumption as far back as 7 days previously can see you loose your licence, while clearing not being impaired to operate a vehicle. The presence of a drug, which has a long bio retention time, compared to cocaine or alcohol does not constitute impairment and one should not loose their licence due to such low limit of detection testing methods.
Only the traffic corp have the drug testing machines and they don’t work 24 hours. Imagine the ordinary unit’s had them too
Oh so covid checkpoints and overtime isn’t enough? Now we have holiday “safety plans”. Also annual slow down days, usually happening 10 times a year or so.
I don’t know if you noticed, but during both lockdowns mass media couldn’t stop praising their acts of bravery and vigilance, never running short of articles about drugs, guns, fake badges, even crowded dogs… All of this sort of suggesting that we would be better of with a police state like garda presence 365 days a year, 24/7, in perpetuity.
Perhaps policing the police should be the next step. And a dose of sanity too…
Normal maybe less because of covid
Maybe they could conduct their road safety plan without blocking the main roads out of Dublin. It’s getting ridiculous at this stage.
Mainly because a few years ago there was no testing and the testing has increased…I’d like to see how many tests were carried out per year for the past 3 years
‘Drug driving???’ Lol
Right…That’s a ‘thing’ apparently…in Ireland anyway.
have your say