Gardaí warn of ‘morning after’ drink and drug tests for drivers at Easter

Gardaí arrested 19 drivers in the first 24 hours of its Easter bank holiday weekend roads enforcement campaign and have said regular units across the force would be drafted in to ensure its high visibility operation ramped up.

While numbers in dedicated Roads Policing Units nationally have been falling - to 641 at the end of last year compared to 693 a year earlier - the Garda has insisted members of regular units will be used to mount checkpoints and conduct extra patrols this weekend, meaning enforcement will increase over Easter.

Sgt Gavin Coleman of the Roads Policing Division in Dublin Castle said while a range of offences would be targeted this weekend, there would be a special focus on “morning-after” checks aimed at detecting drug- or drink-driving.

And while some motorists used apps that posted live data on the location of checkpoints and speed traps, Sgt Coleman said the Garda was trying to convince drivers of the need to “get back to basics”. Up to Friday morning fatalities had reached 55 so far this year, 13 higher than the same period in 2023, which saw road deaths increase on previous years.

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Sgt Coleman urged drivers to think of those who have been killed so far this year and “won’t be having Easter dinner on Sunday with their families”.

“They’re not statistics, they’re real people who are not coming home to their families because of something that happened on our roads,” he told the media at a Garda checkpoint in Islandbridge, north Dublin, on Friday.

Those who drive must realise that “a split-second decision”, such as being distracted by a mobile phone, could result in their own death, or kill other road users, and this could “happen to anyone”. Everyone behind the wheel of a vehicle also “has the power to make the right decisions” and stem the increase in road fatalities, he said.

“Over the bank holiday weekend we do step it up, and not only with checkpoints, we will also have increased patrols,” he said of enforcement. “We are going to be mounting extra checkpoints early in the morning.”

Sgt Coleman added people may be relaxed while driving on a holiday weekend and they may also be driving on roads they were not familiar with. However, they needed to be mindful that “driving was the most dangerous thing they would do on a daily basis”.

The “high-visibility policing” operation this weekend will see checkpoints also monitoring seat belt-use, “distracted driving” and the use of mobile phones. Distracted driving is an offence that covers a wide range of activities including eating and focusing too heavily on dashboard screens.

Gardaí said the aim of this campaign is to protect vulnerable road users and reduce the number of fatal and serious collisions.

Over the St Patrick’s weekend 175 motorists were arrested for drink-driving, more than 1,800 drivers were detected speeding and 170 were issued with fixed-charge notices for using mobile phones while driving.

In February, during the St Brigid’s bank holiday weekend 161 people were arrested for driving under the influence of drink or drugs, and almost 3,000 drivers were detected speeding. More than 500 vehicles were seized by gardaí.

The Garda is also warning motorists to be aware of driving conditions, with heavy rain showers and hail expected and isolated thunderstorms possible over the weekend.

The Garda operation over the bank holiday weekend started at 7am on Thursday and will continue until 7am, Tuesday, April 2nd.

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