Gardaí issued a road safety alert on Monday following the arrest of 137 motorists for intoxicated driving over the bank holiday weekend.
So far this year, 80 people have died on Irish roads, marking the worst record in a decade.
Reporters invited by An Garda Síochána to a road safety checkpoint on the M7 near Nenagh, Co Tipperary, witnessed officers arrest a man suspected of committing an offence under the Road Traffic Act and transporting him to a nearby Garda station.
Dozens of motorists were breathalysed at the scene to check for alcohol or drugs in their systems.
Inspector Noel Barry, Tipperary and Clare Garda Roads Policing said gardaí were “checking for alcohol or drugs and any other offences that might be disclosed”.
He noted that this weekend’s high number of arrests was “in line” with last year’s figures.
“Over the weekend, we have had people arrested for intoxicated driving. The figure up until 7 am this morning was 137 people arrested for alcohol and or drug driving, and we expect that figure will probably climb in the next 24 hours,” Insp Barry said.
Inspector Barry extended his condolences to the family of a pedestrian killed on the N18 at Portdrine, Co Clare, around 4 am on Saturday. He offered thoughts to the family of a male youth critically injured in a single-vehicle collision near Swinford, Co Mayo, on Monday.
“Unfortunately, the figures for quarter one this year were very high. We’ve had eighty road deaths, that’s eighty families and friends, motorists, pedestrians, all affected by this,” said Insp Barry.
However, he noted that the high number of road deaths was “starting to plateau” from the second quarter of this year, “so we are hoping that trend will continue.”
His appeal to road users, particularly motorists, is straightforward: “We want the public to pay attention and help us to bring that death trend down.”
“The main message we have is for motorists to be more cognizant of their driving,” he said.
Inspector Barry described speeding, not wearing seat belts, and using mobile phones while driving as “lethal” offences.
“All those contribute to road accidents and take the driver’s attention away from their driving and other road users.”
“We are appealing to road users to think twice before you press the accelerator or pick up the phone. Please put your seatbelt on, and don’t drink and drive.”
Insp Barry said a motorist’s split-second decision to look at their mobile phone, not wear their seat belt, or speed could have “life-changing” consequences.
“This will affect not only you and your passengers but other road users, all for the sake of that moment that you decide to make that decision,” he said.
At Monday’s checkpoint on the M7, Gardaí used number plate recognition technology and a mobility app to receive alerts about vehicles approaching the checkpoint.
Gardaí is also looking at implementing a system whereby motorists with dash cam footage of road traffic offences can upload the footage to an online portal system, which will allow Gardaí to check it and possibly use it in road traffic prosecutions.
“It’s part of our operation; we are embracing technology; we have our Garda mobility app, where every car that comes into the checkpoint is checked to ensure everything is in order.
If there are any alerts about disqualified drivers or other criminal alerts, they are notified to our members here,” said Inspector Barry.
“We also have ANPR (automatic number-plate recognition) technology, monitoring the vehicles that come into the checkpoint, and they will send alerts too, so anything that comes into the end of the slipway will be pulled in, and whether it is disqualified drivers or a crime alert, we will deal with it.”
