153 People Die On Irish Roads

As of the 13th December 2012, 153 people have tragically lost their lives on Irish Roads, according to the Garda.

However, this represents 22 less than this date in 2011. If this downward trend continues as expected, it will be on course to achieve another record low in 2012 in terms of road safety.

However, the stark reality is that it is and will always be unacceptable for any person to die or be seriously injured on Irish roads in a road traffic collision.

The Christmas enforcement campaign commenced on the 26th November 2012 and will run until the first week in January. There will be a focus on the drink driving, speeding, non use of seatbelts and the use of mobile phones. These are the key "lifesaver” offences. Similarly the joint Garda/ RSA Christmas and New Year Road Safety campaign was launched on Monday 10th December.

Members of An Garda Síochána will be out day and night nationwide, ensuring that this Christmas and New Year period is as safe as possible for all road users.

Also, since 2007 there has been a steady decline in the number of people arrested for drink driving.

As of 30th November 2012, the number of MAT (Mandatory Alcohol Testing) checkpoints performed has increased 3% compared to this period in 2011, 66,336 compared to 64,550.

Assistant Commissioner Gerard Phillips said: "We can see from the review of the lower drink driving limits, that male drivers aged between 23-32, are still the number one group being arrested, in particular late at night, over the weekend and with a high concentration of alcohol in their system.

"Again we will focus on this time period to intercept these drivers.

"We also wish to thank those who do make the right choice of not drinking and driving when out socialising but we urge them to remember the 'morning after' and ensure they are 'alcohol free' before driving. We want every road user to have a safe Christmas and New Year period."