The number of motorists caught behind the wheel while over the legal alcohol limit in the first two weeks of December have doubled in Donegal.
In the first 16 days of this month, 15 drivers were caught by gardai to be drink driving. This is up more than half from 7 in the same period last year.
In a dangerous month for driving, these figures come with a clear warning from gardai – Never, Ever, Drink and Drive.
The Head of the Donegal Traffic Corps Inspector Michael Harrison has responded to say that he is shocked by these latest figures. “This is a shocking figure. It’s worrying because drink driving plays a major factor in fatal collisions in this country and in this county.”
Ten people have tragically died on Donegal’s roads in 2016. The Donegal Road Safety Working Group and RSA Ireland are continuing to send out a strong message to Never, Ever Drink or Drug Drive.
The message is widely spread in the media, yet drink driving detections are on the increase on both sides of the border. Harrison commented that with reduced garda resources, they are still detecting more than half the amount of drink drivers as last year.
Gardaí will be increasing the number of mandatory alcohol testing checkpoints around the county over the Christmas period, which will be run on a 24/7 basis. Gardaí can breath test any driver that has committed any road traffic offence.
Garda Assistant Commissioner Michael Finn commented:
“In the first 2 weeks of this anti drink driving campaign, I regret to say that 341 drivers failed to heed the repeated road safety messages that have been widely broadcast across every available media platform in relation to drinking and driving. This represents 89 drivers more than the same period for last year’s campaign, but more importantly, 89 more high risk drivers taken off the road before a potential tragedy could occur. That I do not however, regret. I appeal again to every driver thinking of taking a chance with their life or someone else’s. Don’t do it – never, ever drink and drive”.
Assistant Commissioner Finn continued:
“This significant increase in detections show increased Garda activity but disappointingly shows there are some who still refuse to heed all the safety messages. We will continue to seek out these high risk drivers over the coming weeks on a 24/7 basis, to make the roads safer for all road users.”
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