One thousand and fifty people were arrested for drink driving offences in a five-week period over Christmas this year. During this time, Gardaí operated 35,400 checkpoints, and breathalysed over 2,000 drivers.
During the same period, 18,500 people were given on-the-spot fines for speeding offences, while a further 6,200 people were fined for failure to wear a seatbelt.
Last Christmas, 1,300 arrests were made for drink driving during a seven week period. 56,000 checkpoints were operated during that time, with over 4,000 breathalysed, and 17,000 speeding fines. Approximately 8,000 people were fined for failure to wear a seatbelt.