Gardaí plan major festive crackdown on drink drivers

KERRY Gardai will launch a major crackclown on drink driving this Christmas, a Garda Superintendent said this week.

This warning comes in the wake of Justice Minister Ray Burke’s announcement that people who drink and drive over the festive season will face a potent legal hangover.

Supt Leonard said that the Gardai in the Kerry division will keep up the pressure to detect and prevent people driving under the influence of alcohol.

“The Gardai will be extra vigilant over the Christmas period. The campaign will be successful if even one life is saved. Over the past few years, young people in particular are becoming more aware of the seriousness of drink driving,” he said.

Minister Burke promised that there would be an increase in the number of Garda checkpoints and a rigorous enforcement of the law over the Christmas period.

“Members of the public who drink and drive can be assured that their action can and will produce a very potent legal hangover,” he said.

Cahersiveen Supt Tom Lally feels that a conviction for drink driving can have a longlasting effect on an individual and on his/her family.

“If a man is convicted, he will lose his licence for 12 months. In some cases, the conviction can cost him his job and both he and his family suffer as a result,” he said.

He added that there was a notable decrease in the number of deaths through drink driving over the Christmas period in 1990.

“What we are concerned with is primarily the prevention of drink driving as well as the detection of it,” he said.

Supt Lally also warned that drink driving is anti-social.

“More and more people are beginning to become aware of that fact and will not drive if they have been drinking. We will be putting that message across to the people of Kerry again for the Christmas period,” he added.

Tralee Superintendent Fred Garvey stated this week that the primary aim of the Garda in the Kerry division is to protect the public.

“People must be made aware of the consequences of drinking and driving,” he said earlier this week..

Now, under section 49 of the Road Traffic Act, drunk drivers face can and will face many more charges than they would have previously including: :

• up to a six months sentence in prison. • a £1,000 fine or both. • a disqualification from driving and an endorsement of their licence.

Against the health cuts - health workers picket this weeks meeting of the Health Board at County Hall in Tralee.