THE GARDA traffic inspector for Donegal said he was extremely disappointed that the number of drink-driving detections over the Christmas period was the same as last year despite treacherous road conditions.
Insp Michael Harrison was speaking yesterday after figures showed there were 36 detections for suspected drink-driving in the county from December 1st to January 3rd. “Considering the poor road conditions due to the snow and ice, I was shocked to see that the number of detections was exactly the same as last year. I expected the figures to be considerably lower; instead, they are worryingly high,” Insp Harrison said.
Over the year, the number of detections for the same offence in Donegal was down 22 per cent on the previous year, compared to a fall of 33 per cent in the Sligo-Leitrim area.
“When I came into the station each day over Christmas, I could not believe that there were so many detections for drink-driving, considering one could barely drive on the roads,” he said.
“There were also a few arrests for dangerous driving, such as young fellows doing doughnuts in the snow, which is just crazy.”
Insp Harrison said he had no explanation as to why people continue to drink-drive and drive dangerously, other than they may be just “taking a chance”.
He said that both offences were major contributors to deaths on Ireland’s roads.
“I am very disappointed, to say the least, that the message in relation to the dangers of drink-driving is not getting across in Donegal,” he said.
“It’s very surprising considering the weather and road conditions we had. Gardaí were only able to do so many checkpoints for safety reasons. We could not perform the same level of enforcement as last year and to find out that we had the same number of detections as last Christmas for drink-driving is very surprising and disappointing.
“Obviously, there was a drop in enforcement because of the weather so people thought they would take a chance, thinking the Garda would not be out on the roads. The figures should never have been that high.”
In 2010, 19 people died on the county’s roads, compared with 15 deaths in 2009.
The figure was on schedule for a reduction. However, the tragic Inishowen road crash in July, where eight people died following the State’s worst ever single collision, added significantly to last year’s total.