Issue Date: 5th August 2022
- 2,937 detections for speeding offences over the August Bank Holiday Weekend
- 173 arrests for drink and drug driving
- 810 MIT checkpoints carried out by Gardaí
On Tuesday 26th July 2022, An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority launched a road safety appeal in advance of the August Bank Holiday weekend with a focus on ‘Summer Safely’ urging road users to share the roads safely and for drivers to slow down as the peak summer holiday season gets into full swing.
An Garda Síochána commenced its August Bank Holiday Road Safety Operation on Thursday 28th July 2022, which ran between 7am Thursday, to 7am Wednesday 3rd August 2022.
Throughout the August Bank Holiday weekend hundreds of thousands of drivers and passengers travelled on our road networks safely and carefully to various festivals and holiday destinations throughout the country and enjoyed the bank holiday weekend.
Tragically 1 person still lost their life in 1 Fatal Collision and there were 15 Serious Injury Collisions on our roads over the weekend. Comparing with the August Bank Holiday weekend in 2021 there was 6 deaths on our roads in 5 Fatal Collisions and 27 Serious Injury Collisions.
This brings to 96, the number of fatalities on our roads so far in 2022.
Over the August Bank Holiday period, An Garda Síochána carried out 810 Mandatory Intoxicant Testing checkpoints.
63 drivers were arrested for alleged drug driving and 110 drivers arrested for alleged drink driving.
This compares to 69 arrests for drug driving and 113 arrests for drink driving during the last Bank Holiday weekend.
Fixed Charge Offences for other road offences during the period included
- Mobile Phones – 180
- Seatbelts – 47
In addition there were 815 detections for Intercept Speeding Offences and 2,122 for Non Intercept Speeding Offences.
Speaking today Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, Roads Policing and Community Engagement said:
"There has been an alarming increase in road fatalities in 2022. I would like to thank all those road users who endeavoured to improve safety of our roads this August Bank Holiday weekend, unfortunately there are people who continue to disregard the safety messages. There were lifesaver detections over the Bank Holiday weekend.
An Garda Síochána remains committed to ensuring compliance with road traffic legislation to improve safety on our roads for all road users. We want people to drive safely and responsibly for the remainder of the Summer period and ask everyone to support our #SLOWDOWN campaign’."
