Over the October Bank Holiday weekend, Gardaí carried out a Roads Policing Operation between 7am Thursday, October 26 to 7am Wednesday, November 1.
Gardaí have shared the results of the operation, revealing that there were two fatalities on roads over the weekend.
There were also nine serious collisions that took place which resulted in nine people receiving serious and life-threatening injuries.
So far this year, 157 people have tragically died on Irish roads. This is 34 more lives lost than this time last year.
Over the Bank Holiday period, An Garda Síochána carried out 949 Mandatory Intoxicant Testing checkpoints, with 5,852 roadside drug and alcohol tests being conducted.
This led to 211 arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. 41 of these arrests took place between the hours of 6am-2pm.
Garda Roads Policing Units were also out detecting speeding, and issued over 745 on the spot Fixed Charge Penalty Notices for speeding offences.
647,933 vehicles were checked for speeding by Go-Safe nationwide and it was discovered that of these vehicles, 1,973 drivers were detected for speeding.
More Fixed Charge Offences that were issued for other road offences during this period included, 288 drivers using mobile phones, 110 unaccompanied learner drivers and 76 drivers not wearing seatbelts.
Compared to the October Bank Holiday weekend of 2022, there was a 37% increase in serious injury road traffic collisions.
Assistant Commissioner Hilman, Roads Policing and Community Engagement Garda National Roads Policing Bureau said, “Gardaí nationwide received good support from road users across the October Bank Holiday Weekend in helping us and our partners to keep our roads safe”.
“Our thoughts are with all those who have suffered the loss of a loved one on our roads or who have sustained life changing injuries caused in a serious road traffic collision. We must continue to raise awareness among all road users about road safety, work together with road users and our partners, to prevent a further rise in road fatalities serious injury road traffic collisions”.
A statement has been issued that says, “An Garda Síochána continues to appeal to all road users to never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to slow down and to always choose a speed that is appropriate to the driving conditions, to wear your seatbelt and never use a mobile phone while driving”.
