FOLLOWING an intensive Garda campaign to curb drink driving over the August Bank Holiday weekend, the rest of the month will also see specific 24 hour operations.
From July 29 to August 1 inclusive, 165 people were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid confirmed in a review of the weekend on our roads.
“Twenty-one people lost their life on our roads in July, the highest of any month this year so far. Two people lost their life and there were eight serious injury collisions over the bank holiday weekend. We urgently appeal to every road user to take extra care on the roads and realise you have a personal responsibility when you get behind the wheel. Slow down, wear your seatbelt, put the mobile away and in particular, never ever drink and drive.”
The Garda chief noted of the 108 deaths on our roads so far this year, 24 were passenger. Before the bank holiday weekend, he emphasised to passengers to ‘never allow themselves to be carried in a car where the driver is under the influence of alcohol or drugs’ and he said he would again like to reiterate that statement.
“An Garda Síochána would like to thank the 7,000 plus drivers who drove responsibly without alcohol and passed through our MAT checkpoints. Unfortunately, 165 people didn’t heed our appeal in relation to drink driving over the bank holiday and they will now have to face the consequences of their actions. Drink driving arrests for July are 18% up compared to July 2015. These people show total disregard for their own lives and the lives of other road users but it also shows considerable Garda activity, which will continue into August with more targeted operations,” Chief Superintendent Reid concluded.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.