1,216 arrests for drug driving so far in 2020
Sharp increase despite 70% reduction in traffic during lockdown
THE number of drug driving arrests in the first six months of the year rose by 106%, compared to the same period last year, new figures have revealed.
The Garda enforcement figures show there were 1,216 drug-driving arrests in the first half of 2020.
There were 591 such arrests during the same period last year.
The figures were released as part of a campaign by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the Medical Bureau of Road Safety (MBRS) ahead of the bank holiday weekend, aiming to highlight the dangers of drink and drug driving.
RSA chair Liz O’Donnell said gardaí will have an increased number of checkpoints this weekend. The MBRS recorded a 6.5% increase in the number of blood and urine specimens taken between March 27 and June 29, despite a 70% reduction in traffic due to Covid-19 restrictions. When the samples were drug-tested, the results showed that cannabis was the most prevalent drug detected, followed by cocaine.
A security source said it was ‘astonishing’ that drink and drug drivers continued to run the risk of driving under the influence of an intoxicant at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, considering the high volume of ell-publicised checkpoints. They added: ‘It’s shocking really – there were checkpoints everywhere in the first couple of months of lockdown. Despite that there was a huge upsurge in drink and drug driving arrests. It shows the utter recklessness of these drivers.
‘It also worryingly shows gardaí that there are a lot of drivers under the influence who in normal times are going undetected because we don’t usually have such a high volume of checkpoints.’
Garda Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, of Roads Policing and Community Engagement, added: ‘Our roads policing and operational units will be conducting checkpoints nationwide [over the August bank holiday weekend] with a targeted focus on driving under the influence of an intoxicant, whether that is alcohol or drugs or a combination of both.
‘In consultation with the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, an additional 41 preliminary drug-testing devices have been made available to support this campaign. Our key message to drivers is: if you drink or take drugs, don’t drive.’
Hildegarde Naughton, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, said that despite improvements in road safety there continues to be a cohort of drivers who engage in risky behaviour.
‘The incidence of drink and drug driving during the Covid-19 lockdown period, when traffic volumes were at an all-time low, demonstrates the blatant disregard that some drivers have for the law and road safety,’ she said. The MBRS recorded an overall 17% rise in the number of blood and urine specimens analysed in the first six months of the year, compared to the same time period year.
Separately, an analysis by the RSA of road user fatalities from 2013 to 2017 found that where a toxicology result was available, a third of drivers who died, or 35.6%, tested positive for alcohol.
Almost 10% of drivers killed had a positive toxicology for cocaine, while 7.4% had a positive toxicology for cannabis.
Meanwhile, motorists are being urged to exercise additional caution on the road ahead of an expected increase in cross-country travel during August.
AA Roadwatch reported that the number of traffic incidents has increased by 341% compared to the stricter lockdown period. Since Phase 3, the AA reported an average of 53 traffic incidents per week compared to an average of 12 during the stricter lockdown.
Since entering Phase 3, the AA has also seen a 20% increase in traffic incidents compared to Phase 2. For the purposes of this analysis, the AA looked solely at incidents which resulted from traffic volumes, such as a crash or a breakdown. Incidents which likely would have occurred irrespective of traffic volumes, such as a fallen tree, are not included in the numbers compiled by the AA.
Conor Faughnan, AA director of consumer affairs, said: ‘While traffic patterns have looked quite different so far this year, we still expect that many people will be using the long weekend and the first few weeks of August to visit family or squeeze in a holiday somewhere in Ireland before the start of the next school year.
‘We do not want to see the number of crashes and collisions on our roads continue to increase, so we would encourage motorists to exercise additional caution in the days and weeks ahead.’
ali.bracken@dailymail.ie
‘It shows utter recklessness’
‘We encourage additional caution’