‘Significant’ drink driving arrests as two die on roads
Operation Surround, scheduled to run until midnight last night, involved a series of high-visibility checkpoints, covert patrols and random breath-testing.
The Garda Press Office said the full impact of the crackdown would be evaluated this week but reports from traffic units on duty around the country over the weekend indicated there had been a “significant” number of arrests.
Two people died in separate accidents over the holiday but the toll was an improvement on last year, when three lives were lost, and 2004, when five people were killed.
The total number of deaths on the roads to date this year remain up on last year, however, with the figure standing at 243 yesterday compared to 227 the same time last year.
One of the two people who died was 42-year-old Patrick Grattan of Deanstown Avenue, Finglas, Dublin. He was hit by a car on the Ballymun Road, early Saturday morning.
The accident happened at 1.35am between the petrol station and the junction with St Canice’s Road. Gardaí at Whitehall station are appealing for witnesses.
An elderly woman became the second of the weekend’s victims when the car she was driving hit a wall at lunchtime yesterday. The accident happened at 1pm at Knock, Inverin, Co Galway.
No other vehicle or passengers were involved.
Gardaí at Salthill are investigating and driver’s name was being withheld until relatives were informed.
Gardaí hope by running high-profile campaigns at key periods — and making the most of their new random testing powers — they will be able to influence driver behaviour and reduce road deaths.
In another initiative, which is being hailed a success, the Driver Revive scheme in Mayo, saw volunteers brew free tea for drivers at ten prominent filling stations in the county, to keep drivers alert and refreshed while travelling.
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