This article is from page 13 of the 2006-08-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
THE number of people arrested on suspicion of drink driving over the Bank Holiday weekend was significantly reduced when compared with other holiday weekends, as gardaí mounted one of the biggest ever crackdowns.
Several checkpoints were set up all over the Clare Garda Division over the weekend and four drivers were arrested. This compares with seven, during the August Bank Holiday weekend last year.
It is a huge decrease on the figure for the last Bank Holiday weekend, in June, when 13 drivers were arrested. It also shows a sizeable reduction, when compared to the May Bank Holiday weekend, when nine drivers were arrested on suspicion of drink driving. There were also nine arrested during the Easter Bank Holiday weekend in April.
However, The Clare People has learned that the number of people arrested on suspicion of drink driving during July showed a 150 per cent increase, when compared with the same month last year. Forty-five were arrested last month, compared with 18 in July 2005. Two arrests were made in Killaloe, and one each in Kilkee and Ennis. Those arrested will face court appearances within weeks.
Gardaí say the reduction in arrests over the weekend indicates that the dangers of drinking and driving is being taken on board, in the wake of the introduction of random breath testing. More than 400 drivers in the Clare Division – which takes in parts of North Tipperary – were breath tested randomly over the weekend, none of which yielded positive results.
Sergeant Brendan McDonagh of the Traffic Corps said the reaction to the random breath testing has been “positive.” There appeared to be a “very high rate of compliance” to the new law which prohibits the use of handheld mobiles while driving.
“At the moment, we are advising people about the dangers of using mobile phones while driving. Anyone we see using a mobile phone while driving, we pull over and advise them to get hands free kits,” he said. “There seems to be a very high rate of compliance here. We are delighted to find that and hopefully it will make a major difference”.
Gardaí say they will continue the crackdown on drink driving. 283 drivers were arrested in Clare last year and up to last week, the number of arrests in the county had risen by 62 per cent, when compared to the same period in 2005.