Nearly 1,000 people were arrested on suspicion of drink-driving in the run-up to Christmas last year.
Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) launched their festive safety appeal this afternoon in a bid to discourage people from getting behind the wheel after taking a drink.
The appeal has a specific focus on the dangers of driving the morning after a night out.
Gardaí said 11% of fatal road crashes involving alcohol happened the morning after out – with more people arrested for drink-driving on Sunday mornings than any other time of the week.
Morning after
RSA chairman Liz O’Donnell called on drivers to take extra care – warning that even if you feel OK to hit the road, you may not be.
“It is difficult because everybody’s metabolism is different,” she said.
“It is easy to lose track of how many drinks you have had if you are out for the whole night.
“If you drinking up until 1am or 2am in the morning, the fact is that it is science - it is not about how you feel, it is about the level of alcohol in your bloodstream.”
Operation Surround
Additional checkpoints are being rolled out across the country from Monday with nearly 120 extra gardaí detailed to Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Drogheda for high-visibility roads policing as part of Operation Surround.
Assistant Garda Commissioner David Sheehan said 960 people were arrested on suspicion of drink-driving in the run-up to Christmas last year – and warned that the figure could easily be surpassed last year.
“I do not want 970 people caught for drink-driving but the problem that I have is that I am looking at my stats for the last number of weeks and the trajectory is wrong,” he said.
“The stats are going up week-in, week-out.
“If that continues we will surpass it.
“I do not want that so I want people to heed the message: if you are considering drink-driving forget about it; it is not going to happen.”
Young drivers
He said an average of 170 people were caught allegedly drink driving every week this year – with 7,800 arrested on suspicion of the offence.
Younger people are some of the worst offenders with 30% of all arrests involving people in their 20s.
Assistant Commissioner Sheehan said the figure is “way too high” adding “it is clear from that that the message hasn’t hit home and that those people have not learned the salient message about drinking and driving.”
The RSA is giving people the opportunity to see what it’s like to drive drunk, and be involved in a crash. pic.twitter.com/Ffx66CYvcw
— Kacey O'Riordan (@KaceyORiordan) November 29, 2018
Launching the safety appeal this afternoon, the RSA showcased its new Oculus Rift virtual reality experience, which offers people the chance to see what it is like to be involved in a drink-related crash – and live with the consequences.
The additional checkpoints will be in operation from next week.
With reporting from Kacey O'Riordan
