There'Â’s been an 8 per cent increase in the number of road deaths so far this year, with 93 people killed in crashes.
Gardai have also mounted a new intelligence-led operation targeting drink drivers this summer – with arrests up by nearly a fifth.
DMR TRAFFIC – Friday evening MAT checkpoint on Francis St -29 tested & one arrested! Never drink & drive! pic.twitter.com/yMHGLBvq3m
— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) July 23, 2016
Helen Vaughan reports.
New figures from the Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority show road deaths so far this year are up 8 per cent.
The RSAÂ’s Maggie Martin says the weekend has the highest risk, with half of those fatalities happening at the weekend.
20 per cent – or 19 deaths – between midnight and 6am on a Sunday.
The county with most road deaths is Cork, with 17 people killed – that’s nearly double the next highest counties of Tipperary and Limerick – both of which had 9 people killed in road crashes.
543 people suspected of drink driving have been arrested since the start of July – in a new intelligence-led operation by Gardaí.
ThatÂ’s up 17 per cent on last July.
Nearly a third of all drivers who died in crashes between 2008 and 2012 had been drinking.
Chief Superintendent Aidan Reid from the Garda Traffic Bureau says their new targeted approach focuses on high risk areas and times.
