Final Update: Christmas Road Safety Enforcement Operation

An Garda Síochána’s Christmas and New Year Road Safety Enforcement Operation which began on Thursday, 30th November 2023 at 7:00am has concluded this morning, January 4th at 7:00am.

By the 31st of January, provisional road traffic collision figures indicated that 184 people died in 173 fatal crashes in 2023. This is compared to 155 deaths in 149 collisions in the previous year – a 19% increase in road fatalities compared to 2022.

During this Christmas and New Year period, 14 people lost their lives in road traffic collisions. In the first three days of this New Year, three people have already been killed on Irish roads.

Between the 1st of December 2023 and this morning, Gardaí conducted 8,199 checkpoints, 4,679 of which were for Mandatory Intoxicant Testing.

An Garda Síochána arrested 818 drivers on suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant. This equates to one arrest every single hour during this period. A quarter of these arrests were for the suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs having failed a roadside DrugWipe test.

Since Friday, December 1st 2023 some 15,542 drivers were detected and fined for speeding offences, over 1,000 for the use of a mobile phone while driving, and 291 for not wearing a seatbelt.

While this one seasonal road safety enforcement operation has now concluded, Gardaí nationwide continue to target the life saver traffic offences with an aim of keeping all road users safe.

An Garda Síochána urge all motorists to never drive under the influence of an intoxicant, reduce your speed, always wear a seatbelt, never use a mobile phone while driving – this includes using apps or having a phone on the dash – avoid all distractions and give driving your full attention.