Nineteen people have been arrested nationally on suspicion of drink or drug driving in the first 24 hours of the Garda Easter Bank Holiday road safety enforcement campaign.
Checkpoints are in place across the country, including Donegal, as part of the campaign which will continue until Tuesday morning.
Speaking at a checkpoint in Chapelizod in Dublin, Sergeant Gavin Coleman told RTE News the number has increased by 13 from this time last year, “so it is going obviously in the wrong direction this year”.
“The message today was that people need to, if they’re planning on having a night out, make sure you have a safe way to get home,” Sgt Coleman said, adding “if you are planning to drive, don’t drink, don’t use drugs. Don’t get distracted by your mobile phones”.
Speaking about the number of lives lost, he said: “That’s 55 people that won’t be having dinner on Sunday, Easter dinner on Sunday with their families. They are real. They’re not statistics. They’re real people. They’re real people who are not coming home to their families because of something that happened on our roads.
“Don’t get distracted by anything”
“It is within our power to change. Every single driver on the roads has the power to change to make the right decisions to make the right choices.”
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