Garda blitz leaves drink drivers with nowhere to hide

Mandatory morning-after checkpoints, a lightning blitz on every road in and out of a town, and an increased Garda motorbike presence on roads – that’s all part of this year’s biggest ever Garda crackdown on drink driving over the festive season.

The warning comes after confirmation that driving arrests in Galway for the first fortnight in December were up by 200% as compared to the same period last year.

The first 13 days of this month saw 33 drink driving arrests in the city and county, compared to eleven for the same period last year, as Gardaí deploy more resources to ‘smart checkpoints’ and mandatory alcohol testing.

“Drinking and driving is a mug’s game – that’s the very simple message we want to get out there. You could lose your licence or your job, but worse, your actions could end up killing someone,” said Regional Traffic Supt, Noel Kelly.

A new element of this season’s Garda clampdown on drink driving is ‘Operation Surround’, where all roads into a village or town are manned by checkpoints, leaving no ‘rat-runs’ for an escape.

Gardaí have also have more resources available including four BMW 1200cc motorcycles, specifically for Traffic Corps duties.

Fast moving checkpoints and mandatory alcohol tests will also be used – these will be of short duration and highly mobile to stay ahead of social media warnings.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.