Garda crackdown sees huge rise in ‘morning after’ drink driving detections

Revellers attending Christmas parties across Galway have been issued a stern warning about being caught for drunk driving the morning after – it has been revealed that one in ten drivers arrested in the county so have been caught the following day.

Morning after checkpoints have become very visible in this latest drink driving clampdown with at least 60 checkpoints every day during the course of the operation which will continue until January 7.

And Garda chiefs have expressed concern that the number of arrests for drunk driving in Galway has dropped by a mere 5% which means that many motorists are still taking a chance and getting caught.

But the Gardaí are particularly pleased that the number of deaths in the region has decreased by 36% this year compared to 2012.

Superintendent Pat Murray of the Regional Traffic Unit in Oranmore said that over the course of the year there had been 960 drink driving arrests in the western region with the vast majority of these in County Galway.

Even as recently as last Monday there were four arrests for drinking and driving and these motorists will be appearing before the courts in the New Year.

There has been some criticism of the fact that motorists are being breathalysed in the mornings but Superintendent Murray said that anything that impairs a person’s driving could lead to a fatality taking place.

There were 19 deaths in County Galway during 2012 but this number is significantly reduced and the Gardaí put it down to their greater detection of motoring offences.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.