137 arrested for drink and drug driving so far this bank holiday weekend

Since 7am on Thursday morning, members of An Garda Síochana have been carrying out drug and alcohol testing at checkpoints countrywide as part of the force’s bank holiday road safety campaign. File picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

Some 137 motorists have been arrested for driving under the influence of an intoxicant so far this bank holiday weekend, gardaí have said.

Since 7am on Thursday morning, members of An Garda Síochana have been carrying out drug and alcohol testing at checkpoints countrywide as part of the force’s bank holiday road safety campaign.

According to Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty, between 7am on Thursday and 7am on Monday morning, 137 arrests were made for driving under the influence.

Supt Geraghty said that, aside from enforcement around motorists driving under the influence, gardaí have also been monitoring speeding, with gardaí in Wicklow catching a motorcyclist doing 146km/h in an 80km zone, and gardaí in Mullingar clocking a motorist travelling at 190km/h in 100km/h zone.

He said these sort of speeds are “completely unacceptable on our roads”.

"The main problem with speed is if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a road traffic collision, the higher the speed you’re travelling at, the greater the impact of that road traffic collision and the greater the possibility of death or serious injury,” he told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland.

He also encouraged people to moderate their speed and slow down, even within the applicable speed limit of the area.

"It is better to arrive home a little bit later and safely, than to not arrive home at all,” he said.

Supt Geraghty also confirmed a portal which will allow members of the public to upload video evidence of dangerous driving they see or experience on the roads would be in place within “18 to 24 months”.

He said digital evidence management system was something An Garda Síochána had been examining for some time and, when rolled out, it would make it easier for gardaí to investigate reports of reckless or dangerous driving.

"People will be able to upload footage, but we will still require the people who are uploading that footage to make a statement to prove the authenticity of the footage.

"But it will make the system far easier for us to get that footage from other drivers on the road who have complaints about the driving of other people, to make that complaint to us and allow us then to investigate it properly," he added.