Brakes slammed on drugged-up drivers
ONE MOTORIST BROKE 5 DIFFERENT ROAD RULES
at 11am this morning and travel to St Eunan’s Church, Raphoe for their funeral mass.
It comes after an Easter Bank Holiday weekend of carnage on Irish roads.
A MOTORIST tested positive for drugs — and was driving without a driving licence, had no tax, no insurance and no NCT over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
It was just one example of the type of behaviour on our roads that is happening on a daily basis, according to Chief Superintendent Jane Humphries of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau.
“People need to take responsibility that their lives and the lives of others are in their hands when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle,” the Chief Supt added following an extensive Garda roads policing operation over the Easter weekend.
Some 58 people have died on the road since January 1 which is 16 more lives lost in road traffic collisions than this time last year.
Throughout the the extensive Garda operation
Pregnant Claire Kavanagh (33) died following a two-car collision on the N24 in Kilsheelan last Friday.
On Saturday, teen Vakaris Gudaitis (17) died when he was struck by a car on the — which was in place from 7am on Thursday, March 28 to 7am yesterday — over 5,000 roadside drug and alcohol tests were conducted.
This led to 178 arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. One in three of those were solely for drugs.
Speeds
And 36 people were arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant.
Throughout the weekend, more than 2,630 drivers were detected for speeding offences.
Just some of the speeds detected included a motorist driving at 126kph in a 50kph zone on the Tonlegee Road, Dublin 5, one driving at 104kph in a 60kph zone on the R238 at Buncrana, Co Donegal, and one travelling at 193kph in a 120kph zone on the M1 at Bellewstown, Co Meath.
More than 220 motorists
N17 in Mayo.
And cyclist Gar
Fennelly, from
Bennekerry in Carlow, was killed after he was struck by a car in Knocknagee in Kildare on Monday. were detected using their mobile phones while driving and a further 77 were detected for not wearing seatbelts.
In Co Louth, gardai stopped a vehicle that had no tax, no insurance, no NCT, the driver had no driving licence and tested positive for drugs.
“That is the type of behaviour we are seeing on our roads on a day-to-day basis,” said Supt Humphries at a press conference outside Garda HQ yesterday.
“Everybody was well aware there is an increased Garda presence on the roads over a Bank Holiday weekend. There’s increased visibility.
“People have to learn that responsibility on the roads starts with them.
“If they do go out on the roads and they are not legal or they’re driving under the influence or going too fast they will be caught.
“The message is getting through. The majority of people on our roads are lawabiding citizens. But unfortunately there is a percentage of people who are willing to put you, me and others at risk.”
Minister Foley said yesterday: “School communities have unfortunately seen the horrific consequences of road collisions first-hand.
“They have helped their students to cope with the loss of classmates on the roads, with the assistance of psychologists.
“I know that we all united in our desire to play our part in reducing the number of road deaths and the devastation experienced by the families left behind.”
She added: “I am pleased to welcome the convening of focus groups which will engage directly with students and teachers to begin the work on developing a [road safety] module.”
The 2023 Fatality and Serious Injuries statistics amongst children, teenagers and young adults for 2023 show there were 60 deaths.