Bank Holiday Weekends are one of the busiest periods on Irish roads. They are also one of the periods where road users are at the highest risk of being involved in a fatal or serious road traffic collision.
So far this year, 29/01/2024, 15 people have lost their lives in Road Traffic Collisions on Irish roads.
For whatever reason you will be using the roads this coming St Brigid’s bank holiday weekend, whatever your mode of transport may be, An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) appeal to all road users to stay safe on the roads.
An Garda Síochána will conduct an operation over this weekend’s St Brigid’s bank holiday. The operation will take effect from 7am Thursday 01/02/24 until 7am Tuesday 06/02/24.
The 5 day period of St Brigid’s bank holiday weekend 2023 (7am Thursday 01/02 to 7am Tuesday 06/02, inclusive) resulted in:
• 1 fatal collision resulting in 1 fatality and 1 serious injury
• 16 serious injury collisions resulting in a further 16 serious injuries
• 167 Drivers arrested on suspicion of Drink/Drug Driving
o 35% Drug Driving Detections
o 20% of arrests occurred between 6am and 2pm).
• Over 1,100 Mandatory Intoxicating (MIT) Checkpoints carried out
• Over 2,700 detections for speeding
• 80 detections for seatbelt offences
• 255 detections for using a mobile phone
• 177 FCN’s were issued for Learner Unaccompanied Drivers with 101 vehicles seized from unaccompanied learner drivers under s41 RTA
• 174 vehicles seized for no insurance under s41 RTA. A further 222 vehicles were seized for no tax.
Data shows that the risk of a fatal or serious injury road traffic collision is highest between 12:00 & 15:00 hrs during the St Brigid’s Day Bank Holiday Weekend and that the risk of a fatal or serious injury road traffic collision is highest on the Friday of the St Brigid’s Day bank holiday weekend.
Today, February 1st 2024, speaking alongside students at the University of Limerick, An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) appealed to motorists to drive safely and without distraction this bank holiday weekend. Bank Holiday Weekends are one of the busiest periods on Irish roads, they are also one of the periods where road users are at the highest risk of being involved in a fatal or serious road traffic collision.
For the month of January 2024, 18 people lost their lives in road traffic collisions on Irish roads, 1 less for the month of January 2023 and an increase of 4 for January 2022.
Across the weekend, An Garda Síochána will be focussing on the four lifesaver offences: (1) Intoxicated driving; (2) Speeding (3) Use of mobile phones (4) Seatbelt offences.
