WORST YEAR FOR ROAD DEATHS IN A DECADE

Garda appeal to call out drivers who are on drink or drugs, 600 arrests for being intoxicated at wheel in December

- MICHAEL O'TOOLE

GARDAI have appealed for people to challenge their family and friends if they see them getting behind the wheel drunk or on drugs.

"If you know that somebody is taking drugs or alcohol, call them out. You might actually save their life," Superintendent Liam Geraghty said yesterday.

And the Garda Press Officer also revealed that almost half of all motorists arrested for driving while under the influence of an intoxicant in recent weeks had been caught using drugs.

He said that some 600 people had been arrested for the offence in December, including 149 on Christmas week - and 43% of them were for alleged drug driving.

Speaking outside Garda Headquarters in Dublin, where he gave an update on the force's Christmas Road Safety Campaign, as 190 people have died on the nation's roads so far this year the highest toll in a decade.

He said: "From Monday December 22 until Sunday December 28, An Garda Siochana conducted over 2,100 checkpoints and despite all the media commentary, the public commentary, the talking about the dangers on our roads, another 149 drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of an intoxicant, which brings to nearly 600 drivers who have been arrested in December 2025 during our road safety campaign for driving under the influence of an intoxicant, be that alcohol or drugs, predominantly illegal drugs.