Throughout the June Bank Holiday weekend, a Garda Roads Policing operation was in place between 7am on Thursday, 1st June 2023 and 7am on Tuesday, 6th June 2023.
There was one fatal collision on our roads during this period and 12 serious collisions took place that resulted in 12 serious and life-threatening injuries.
To date this year, *78 persons have died on our roads in 2023, that is eight more lives lost than this time last year.
Over the Bank Holiday period, An Garda Síochána carried out 1,075 Mandatory Intoxicant Testing (MIT) checkpoints. 5,119 roadside drug and alcohol tests were conducted which led to 160 arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant.
Throughout the weekend, Garda Roads Policing Units were out detecting those speeding and issued over 930 on the spot Fixed Charge Penalty Notices for speeding offences.
Of the 693,019 vehicles checked for speeding by Go-Safe nationwide, 2,623 drivers were detected for speeding.
Notable top speeds detected in each speed zone include:
- 138km/h in a 50km/h zone on the R510 Dock Road, Limerick
- 129km/h in a 50km/h zone on the N3 Stramatt, Virginia, Co. Cavan
- 111km/h in a 50km/h zone on the N6 Baile An Phoill, Go. Galway
- 114km/h in a 60km/h zone on the N25 Lemybrien, Waterford
- 116km/h in a 60km/h zone on the N11 Ferrycarrig, Wexford
- 188km/h in a 80km/h zone on the R403 Barberstown, Straffan Co. Kildare
- 116km/h in a 80km/h zone on the N2 Knockronaghan, Emyvale Co. Monaghan
Fixed Charge Offences for other road offences during this period included:
- Using Mobile Phones – 255
- Unaccompanied learner drivers – 100
- No Seatbelts – 75
In addition, 328 vehicles were detained under Section 41 of the Road Traffic Act for offences such as Unaccompanied Learner Driver (87), no Insurance (117) and no Tax (124).
Assistant Commissioner Hilman, Roads Policing and Community Engagement Garda National Roads Policing Bureau said, "Working together with our partners to raise public awareness of the importance of road safety strengthens the capacity of Gardaí nationwide in keeping all road users safe.
"The Bank Holiday weekend was a very busy period on Irish roads and as our data shows, Gardaí were out enforcing the law through regular checkpoints, road side testing for alcohol and or drugs, checking for speed.
While there were some alarming detections, we want to acknowledge the largely positive support of road users in keeping people safe, particularly the most vulnerable such as cyclists and pedestrians.
This help is required in order to avoid a higher number of fatal and serious injury collisions on our roads.
One more death is simply one too many, and can be avoided if we all work together. Our thoughts and prayers are with every family who suffers a loss of a loved one on our roads.”
An Garda Síochána continues to appeal to all road users to never drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol, to slow down and to always choose a speed that is appropriate to the driving conditions, to wear your seatbelts, never use a mobile phone when driving.
