About 60 drivers were randomly stopped by gardaí and asked to take a breath test over the course of a half-hour Garda checkpoint on the Navan Road in Dublin on Wednesday evening.
About 2,000 cars passed by in that time. The checkpoint, set up in the fading daylight of a typical summer's evening, formed part of the major Garda campaign to discourage drink-driving, in particular over this bank holiday weekend.
None of those stopped failed the test. By far the most common difficulty experienced by motorists, who were stopped six cars at a time, appeared to be trying to gather their nerves sufficiently to register a correct reading.
Time and time again, gardaí had to politely ask drivers to breathe for longer into the plastic mouthpiece attached to the black hand-held breath-testing machine.
Like many others, Kathleen McLoughlin from Dunboyne needed several attempts to produce a valid reading, a fact which doubtless was not helped by the presence of a media scrum around her. Anything over 35 micrograms per 1,000 millilitres of breath represents a fail.
Her Garda interviewer eventually asks her if she has ever blown up a balloon. "It's exactly the same," he says. His efforts eventually have the desired effect, with Ms McLoughlin registering a "zero" result on the breath test.
"It was okay when I got used to it," she says afterwards. "I think it is good to see more of a Garda presence on the road."
The reason for Wednesday night's checkpoint, which was followed by similar checkpoints around the city throughout the night, could hardly have been clearer.
According to Supt Kevin Donohoe of the Garda Press Office, the first 48 hours of the enactment of the provisions of the Road Traffic Act - which allow gardaí to randomly breath test motorists - led to 69 arrests nationwide two weeks ago.
Many of those caught might not have been apprehended under the old system, whereby gardaí had to "form an impression" that a person may be driving while intoxicated before asking them to take a breath test.
The same gardaí at these checkpoints frequently have to deal with the aftermath of drink-driving and have to take people out of the wreckage of mangled cars, Supt Donohoe explains. If a garda has experienced that before, they certainly don't want to have to do it again.
Individuals driving along the Navan road on Wednesday evening will have been well aware of the significance of the blue flashing lights and what the implications could be for them if they had consumed alcohol, but an unmarked Garda car was also waiting on a nearby slip road.
Its purpose was to stop any drivers who attempted to avoid the checkpoint by turning off before reaching it.
Sgt Pat Curran of the Dublin Metropolitan Region traffic division, who had overall responsibility for Wednesday night's Navan Road operation, says he is increasingly surprised by the number of young people who are found to be driving while over the limit.
Often, those who are stopped are suspected of having taken illegal drugs as well, and are subsequently asked for a urine test.