Harris warning over rise in drug-driving
BY garda chief slams speed and phone use dangers
SAFETY gains made through the reduction of drink-driving have almost been wiped out by motorists under the influence of drugs, the Garda Commissioner said yesterday.
Drew Harris added the introduction of testing has highlighted the extent of the problem.
He said: “Regrettably we are now seeing things like drink-driving – which was falling back and was on long-term decline – those gains have now been almost lost by that being replaced by individuals driving under the influence of drugs.
“So driver behaviour is a very important element in this. Speed is another contributing factor as well. We’re seeing collisions of all types but certainly fatal collisions and serious injury collisions where speed has been very much a contributory factor. And last year there was over 150,000 detections for speeding.”
Speaking at Scoil Mhuire and Scoil Bhride in Tullamore, Co Offaly, the Commissioner told reporters motorists scrolling through social media while driving is a “real issue”.
There were 19,000 people caught using their phones while driving last year. Mr Harris said the offence wasn’t linked to any one particular age group.
He said: “If you’re using your phone, then you are distracted, and events in front of you as you’re driving along, can change in an instant.
“So concentrate on the road ahead, put your phone to one side and certainly don’t look at social media.
“I think that’s a particular problem. People have social media open on their [phones on their] laps and glancing down at it as they scroll through and that’s causing a real issue.
“There’s no real clever technology that we can apply to this, it is the eyeball in effect seeing an individual working at or using their mobile phone while driving.
“We are seeing terrible events on the roads. But in the majority of those, there is some blameworthy factor in terms of what’s happened.”