15% rise in arrests for driving 'under the influence'
Drug drivers are being targeted over the June bank holiday weekend as gardaí report a 15% rise in arrests for driving 'under the influence' over the first four months of the year, compared to the same period last year.
At the launch of a bank holiday safety drive by the Road Safety Authority (RSA), An Garda Síochána and the Medical Bureau of Road Safety (MBRS), it was revealed that 62 people have been killed or seriously injured in June bank holiday collisions in the last five years.
Professor Denis Cusack, director of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety, said that while alcohol remains the most frequently detected drug in driving, cannabis comes second, with cocaine overtaking benzodiazepines to be the third most prevalent intoxicant detected in Irish drivers.
“Many of the drivers issued with a drug certificate were also driving with alcohol in their system,” he said. “Combinations of drugs and of drugs and alcohol have more than an additive effect on a person’s ability to function normally and this can have a devastating effect on their driving which may result in serious injuries or death.”
Moyagh Murdock, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority said its own research shows that many drug drivers incorrectly believe that certain drugs don’t impair them the way alcohol does and imagine themselves at low risk of collision.
“They also tend to overestimate their driving ability and show little understanding of how drugs affect their driving,” she said. “Many have poor awareness of the impairing effects of drugs and make bad decisions about driving as a result. These drivers also need to be aware of the fact that the Gardaí now have the tools to detect for the presence of drugs at the roadside and in Garda stations and have been very successful in taking drugged drivers off the road. So, you are literally out of your mind to drug drive.”
Chief Superintendent Paul Cleary of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau said its priority is to ensure that people who use the road are not put at risk by the minority of drivers who drive under the influence.
He warned: "The Garda Roads Policing Unit will be conducting roadside screening at checkpoints right around the country. The roadside test for drugs has enabled members of the roads policing units to tackle the serious issue of drug driving. We will also be targeting other killer behaviours such as speeding, mobile phone use and non-wearing of seatbelts.”
To date a total of 62 people have died on the roads, which is four more than up to the same period in 2018.
