14 people were arrested in this country for drink driving last Christmas Day, warn Gardaí.
A Garda statement said: "Make sure you’re at home sharing dinner with your family and not in a lonely cell. Our menu for prisoners isn’t that appealing."
Mandatory alcohol testing will be carried out all over the county right through the Christmas season for both mornings and evenings, warn Co Kildare Gardaí.
Over the past seven days, five people have been arrested for drink driving in the Naas District.
Three people were found to be over the legal alcohol limit.
Arrest figures released nationally by the Gardai for driving under the influence (DUI) up to end of October 2017 shows that there have been 7,428 drivers arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence compared to 6,637 up to October 2016. This is a 12% increase in DUI arrests in 2017.
Alcohol is a contributory factor in 38% of fatal crashes in the lead up to Christmas, a Road Safety Authority (RSA) analysis of Garda investigation files for fatal crashes in the months of November and December has found.
Another analysis of preliminary Garda data from 2008-2016 reveals that a total of 292 road users were killed in the months of November and December. The average number of fatalities each month for this nine-year period was 16 in November and 16 in December.
The most prevalent times of day were between 4pm-8pm (33%) and 12pm-4pm (23%), followed by 12am-6am (22%).
Road Traffic Accident fatalities were more prevalent on Sundays (21%). The most dangerous time of day on Sundays was midnight-6am.
Drivers represent almost half (46%) of all road users killed in November and December.
Pedestrians represent over a quarter (26%) of fatalities, while passengers account for almost one fifth (18%).
A Garda Statement said: “There are multiple examples of arrested drivers found to have an alcohol concentration of more than 100 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath. These have been intercepted throughout the country, including the morning after and early evening.”
The Garda statement added: “This Christmas campaign will continue to concentrate on intoxicated drivers all day every day. These high risk drivers put everyone’s life in danger. Never ever drink and drive.”
The limits are, nine micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath for a specified driver. A specified driver includes learner, novice and professional driver. 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millitres of breath for a non-specified driver.
Meanwhile Gardaí in Co Kildare will continue to carry out checkpoints monitoring speed and will be checking that tax, NCT and insurance are up to date.
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