Gardaí warn of 400 arrests for drink-driving

MORE than 400 people will be arrested over this bank holiday weekend for drink-driving, gardaí have estimated.

A further 3,000 will also be caught for serious speeding offences, Assistant Garda Commissioner Eddie Rock predicted.

Pleading with drivers not to drink and drive and to slow down, Mr Rock said: “I can say with certainty, unless there’s a sea change among people, that there will be 400 people processed for drink driving this weekend.

“That’s 400 people who have no intention of being processed, but they will be processed.”

He said garda enforcement levels were up a third on last year.

“Enforcement is being ramped up all the time and that is our responsibility. Over this weekend alone, there will be around 3,000 people detected for speeding, and that’s not fish-in-a-barrel syndrome, that is serious speeding.”

He said some 260 people were detected every week driving whilst using a mobile phone.

Mr Rock said mandatory alcohol testing at designated checkpoints has had an impact.

“It’s no comfort for anybody, but since mandatory alcohol testing was introduced, our deaths have decreased by about 30 on the same period last year.”

He said 105 of the 306 people killed on the roads so far this year were aged between 16 and 25.

Of the 306, 224 of those were male.

He said he was “absolutely satisfied” in relation to the resources he was getting.

Gardaí warned people to give themselves plenty of time travelling this weekend, including to events such as the Cork Jazz Festival, the Munster rugby game in Thomond Park today and the Dublin City Marathon on Monday.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell said the Government had boosted resources to the gardaí and the Traffic Corps now had 800 officers and would increase to 1,200 in two years.

“The amount of resources for overtime to enforce the law is significant and is available in sufficient sums to the gardaí to enforce the law,” said Mr McDowell.