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Sunday World
5 days ago
- General
- Sunday World
Gardai seize nearly 500 vehicles, catch 3,000 speeding and arrest 167 others over weekend
During this period, there was one fatality on the roads, while 14 serious collisions resulted in 14 individuals sustaining severe and life-threatening injuries Gardai seized nearly 500 vehicles, detected almost 3,000 drivers speeding and arrested 167 others over the June Bank Holiday weekend. The figures were released after an extensive Garda Roads Policing Operation was put in place from 7am on Thursday, until 7am this morning. During this period, there was one fatality on the roads, while 14 serious collisions resulted in 14 individuals sustaining severe and life-threatening injuries. Over the course of the operation, gardai conducted more than 830 Mandatory Intoxicant Testing (MIT) checkpoints. More than 4,000 breath tests and approximately 270 oral fluid tests were carried out, leading to 167 arrests for suspected driving under the influence of an intoxicant. . News in 90 Seconds - 3rd June 2025 Additionally, almost 3,000 drivers were detected breaking speed limits throughout the weekend including one clocked at 99km/h in a 50km/h zone on R212 at Clones, Co. Monaghan. Another was caught doing 114km/h in a 60km/h zone on R147 at Dunboyne, Co. Meath, while another was speeding at 119km/h in a 80km/h zone on R148 at Broadford, Co. Kildare. In Dublin, one driver was speeding at 188km/h in a 100km/h zone on M50 at Templeogue. More than 210 Fixed Charge Notices (FCNs) were issued for other using mobile phones, while 215 were handed out to unaccompanied learner drivers and more than 70 to those not wearing a seatbelt. In addition, 99 vehicles were seized from learner permit holders driving unaccompanied and another 380 for having no tax or insurance. 'An Garda Síochána continue to appeal to all road users to never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to slow down and to always choose a speed that is appropriate to the driving conditions, to wear your seatbelt and keep your eyes always on the road,' a Garda spokesperson said.
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- General
- Irish Independent
Nearly 500 cars seized as gardaí arrest 167 for drink and drug driving and catch 3,000 speeding over bank holiday weekend
The figures were released after an extensive Garda Roads Policing Operation was put in place from 7am on Thursday, until 7am this morning. During this period, there was one fatality on the roads, while 14 serious collisions resulted in 14 individuals sustaining severe and life-threatening injuries. Over the course of the operation, gardaí conducted more than 830 Mandatory Intoxicant Testing (MIT) checkpoints. More than 4,000 breath tests and approximately 270 oral fluid tests were carried out, leading to 167 arrests for suspected driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Additionally, almost 3,000 drivers were detected breaking speed limits throughout the weekend including one clocked at 99km/h in a 50km/h zone on R212 at Clones, Co Monaghan. Another was caught doing 114km/h in a 60km/h zone on R147 at Dunboyne, Co Meath, while another was speeding at 119km/h in a 80km/h zone on R148 at Broadford, Co Kildare. In Dublin, one driver was speeding at 188km/h in a 100km/h zone on M50 at Templeogue. More than 210 Fixed Charge Notices (FCNs) were issued for other using mobile phones, while 215 were handed out to unaccompanied learner drivers and more than 70 to those not wearing a seatbelt. In addition, 99 vehicles were seized from learner permit holders driving unaccompanied and another 380 for having no tax or insurance. 'An Garda Síochána continue to appeal to all road users to never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to slow down and to always choose a speed that is appropriate to the driving conditions, to wear your seatbelt and keep your eyes always on the road,' a Garda spokesperson said.
RTÉ News
27-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Limerick gardaí roll out new way to police e-scooters
In Limerick city, gardaí are rolling out a new way of policing electric scooters. Portable dynamometers come in two parts, look like a mini treadmill, and measure around 1.5 metres in length. They measure the speed of e-scooters - with 20km/h the maximum allowed. At a recent checkpoint on Bishop's Quay, a rider was flagged down by members of the Garda Roads Policing Unit, and her e-scooter was rolled up onto the new machine. Within a minute, it was deemed to be in compliance, and the woman is back on the road. However, a bigger model fails the test and is seized. "It goes up to 47km/h," said Garda Philip Ellard, who is conducting the test. "It's very fast. If you had an accident on this, you'd have serious injuries. It's like being on the equivalent of a small moped. "The limit is 20 km/h, anything that exceeds that can't be used on any roads for any reason," he said. Watch: Limerick gardaí roll out new way to police e-scooters Inspector Padraig Sutton is in charge of the checkpoint. "There's lots of e-scooters around Limerick city. Once they conform to the rules, they're a very useful tool for moving around. However, there are quite a number of people who use illegal ones," he said. "Unfortunately in this jurisdiction, we've had serious injury collisions and also fatalities as a result of e-scooter use," he said. There are now four dynamometers used by the Garda Roads Policing Unit across the country and they have been in use for the last two months. "It's been an excellent device for us, because prior to now, it's very difficult for us to estimate with any accuracy the speed of in of an e-bike or an e-scooter, other than actually using a laser speed device." "So, it's a very useful and portable machine that we're getting good use of here in the Limerick division", he said. "Officers can seize an e-scooter and they can bring it back to the station where we can test it, or we can take it out to different parts of the county and set it up and have a mobile checkpoint and target those who are using our roads illegally with devices that really shouldn't be on roads," Inspector Sutton said. The number of e-scooters seized by gardaí has increased dramatically since the introduction of new regulations around their use. The number jumped from 26 to 130 for the five months of this year compared to last. The data also shows that there have been 406 fines given to riders since the new rules were introduced. The laws mean that using an e-scooter to carry goods or passengers, driving on a footpath, or when on a mobile phone all now attract garda Fixed Charge Notices (FCNs) of €50. Other infringements are also included. The challenge for gardaí will be trying to keep up with the number of e-scooters on the roads. Research from the Road Safety Authority suggests that their number will double in the next year. Currently, it is estimated around 4% of adults own one. "It can be a very good way of travelling, particularly around cities. However, we're also seeing a lot of incidents, crashes and collisions," said David Martin from the RSA. "They're growing in popularity. But clearly, there's an issue in terms of safety, and it's something that we are concerned about," he said, adding that the research the RSA commissioned indicates that one in four have had a crash in the last 12 months, and one in three have had a near miss. The RSA, he said, welcomes the roll out of the new dynamometers. "We welcome this initiative today and think it's a tremendous development. "The speed limit of 20 km/h - very difficult for the gardaí to have checked that in the past. So, this new development really is welcome," he said.
RTÉ News
25-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Garda figures show significant decrease in reported crime this year
Gardaí say there has been a significant decrease in robbery, burglary, violent disorder, crimes against the person and theft offences this year. Provisional Garda figures for the first three months show a decrease across all property crimes but an increase in organised crime and fraud offences, compared to the same period last year. Gardaí say these increases are linked to increased reporting and detections. The official CSO crime figures, which are based on Garda statistics, are due to be published in the next few weeks. Gardaí publish provisional crime figures in the Commissioner's report every month. Robbery down 25% across the country The figures for reported crime in the first quarter of this year show significant reductions in most categories. There were decreases in all categories of property crime with residential burglaries down 17% - to 15 a day across the country - when compared to the same period last year, and aggravated burglary with violence down 29%. Robbery was down 25% across the country, while robbery from the person was down 27%. Theft offences were also down; from people by 30%, from cars or vans by 32% and from shops by 6%. There were more than 300 fewer incidents of theft from people in Dublin. Bicycle theft was also down 14%, with a reduction of 19% in Dublin while assaults causing harm were down 8%. 8,300 people arrested for shoplifting There were increases in some offences. Public order was up 2%, fraud up 61% due to the high number of Section 19 referrals, and shoplifting in Dublin also up 2%. However, gardaí say under Operation Táirge, over 8,300 people were arrested for shoplifting in the twelve months up to last month, an increase of 8%. Over 20,200 charges were preferred, an increase of over 30%.Organised crime offences increased, with shootings up 8%, drug dealing up 16% and murder and human trafficking also up, but based on low numbers of 10 incidents each. The Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau seized almost €22 million worth of drugs in the first three months of this year. Overall sex offences and domestic violence offences remained static, with gardaí attending over 15,300 domestic abuse incidents in the first three months of this year. And in a weekend when three people died on the roads in 24 hours, gardaí say fatal and serious road traffic collisions decreased in the first three months by 40%. However, they also say there are 130 road traffic collisions every day, 23 drivers are arrested every day for drink or drug driving and over 70,000 Fixed Charge Notices (FCN's) have been issued. More than 31,000 of those FCN's are for speeding, over six thousand are for mobile phone use and 4,400 were issued to provisional or learner drivers.
