The number of alleged drink driving incidents detected during An Garda Síochána’s Christmas road safety campaign was 1,149 – some 350 fewer than the previous year.
Publishing provisional figures today, gardai said the figures indicated increased compliance among road users.
But “regrettably” there were still motorists who were not heeding the road safety message.
Some 3,000 fixed penalty notices for speeding were issued to motorists during the campaign. A total of 965 were prosecuted for driving while using a mobile phone.
An Garda Síochána acknowledged that the reduction in detections compared to the same period last year may be due “in part” to the adverse weather conditions during the last few weeks.
But it said road users were increasingly complying with the legislation and changing their behaviour.
Assistant Commissioner for Traffic John Twomey said that over the festive season, the force dedicated “considerable time and resources” to enforcing the Road traffic Act.
This was in a bid to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury collisions and to stop “irresponsible, life-threatening behaviour” on the roads.
“Unfortunately 10 people lost their lives in the month of December and we again plead with all road users to exercise caution while travelling on our roads. We are asking motorists to slow down, to make road safety a priority for 2011."
He commended anyone who had changed their behaviour on the roads and said lives would be saved because of this.
The number of deaths on the State’s roads in 2010 was the lowest since records began 50 years ago, with December’s total of 10 fatalities the lowest monthly figure in five decades. A total of 212 people died on the roads during the year.
Two people have already died this month. Patrick Harper (22) and his friend Susan Larrigan (17) were the only people in a car which went out of control and crashed into a wooden pole on the M1 motorway early on New Year’s Day.
A network of Garda mobile speed cameras operated by a private consortium has been in place since November 16th.
Gardai say the cameras will be placed on roads where there is a history of speed-related collisions, in an effort to reduce the incidence of speed-related deaths and injuries.
A list of the locations is published on the garda.ie website.