745 people arrested for driving under the influence over last month

Gardaí arrested 745 people for driving under the influence over the last month.

An Garda Síochána conducted its Christmas and New Year road safety campaign between 1st December and 3rd January.

It targeted intoxicated driving, speeding, use of mobile phone while driving and non-wearing of seatbelts.

Gardaí say these offence types were targeted as evidence shows they are the key contributors to causing fatal and serious injury road traffic collisions.

Throughout the campaign, 7,405 checkpoints were conducted nationwide.

Between 1st December and 3rd January, a total of 745 people were arrested for driving under the influence, 136 of whom were arrested on suspicion of drug driving.

During this period, 256 seatbelt offences were detected and 932 drivers were detected using their mobile phones.

14,704 speeding offences were detected and 4,829 road traffic collisions were reported to An Garda Síochána.

“In December 2022, sadly, 16 people lost their lives on Irish roads”, said Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman. “I would appeal to all road users to consider their actions and behaviours on the roads.”

“We all share the road space and therefore it is a shared responsibility for making our roads safer. I would ask all road users to work with us to reduce serious injury and fatal road traffic collisions by adhering to the rules of the road and adapting their behaviour to suit road and environmental conditions.”