Gardaí set up checkpoints across blackspot in bid to curb road deaths

GARDAÍ in an accident blackspot area will set up hundreds of checkpoints over the coming month in an effort to cut fatalities.

The clampdown seen by motorists nationwide over the bank holiday weekend will continue across the southeast throughout the month of June. Gardaí will today pool their efforts and set up high-visibility checkpoints across Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford and Waterford.

Nine people died in road traffic accidents in the southeast last June. For that reason, gardaí have picked June of this year for their Operation Meitheamh clampdown.

Despite dips in fatalities elsewhere in the country in the first five months of this year, and particularly since penalty points came into play, the toll in the southeast has increased 43%.

So far this year, 22 people have lost their lives in accidents in the region contrary to the national trend.

Anyone who speeds, drinks and drives, has no insurance or is travelling in a defective car will be detected and prosecuted, regional traffic inspector for the southeast, Michael Melia, promised.

"We're continuing the clampdown that motorists saw over the bank holiday weekend. We'll be targeting all the usuals drink-driving, speeding and non-wearing of seatbelts. There will be a particular clampdown on young male drivers and monitoring their driving late at night," he said.

"We also want to increase public awareness about vulnerable road-users, such as pedestrians.

"We will be setting up high-visibility checkpoints and will be trying to prevent and detect drink driving, particularly at weekends.

"We will be using intelligence from our accident records and will be targeting drink driving in this way.

"We will also have a particularly strong focus on motorcyclists, given the high fatality rate among such road users," Inspector Melia said.

The clampdown will also involve the help of PSV inspectors.

They will be checking vehicles for defects and where necessary, prosecutions will follow.

"Nine people died in road traffic accidents in the month of June last year. We don't want a repeat of this. Too many lives have been lost already.

"We've seen a 43% increase in the southeast so far this year, totally contrary to the national trend.

"We will be setting up checkpoints on our national as well as regional roads. People can expect to be stopped on any road, any time of the day or night. 70% of accidents take place on regional roads so we will be targeting these," Inspector Melia added.

The highly successful Traffic Watch programme is still running in the region, and it will be rolled out nationwide later this year.

This programme encourages motorists to be whistle-blowers on others who speed, who are aggressive or behave badly on Irish roads.