GARDAI have welcomed a reduction in road traffic accidents and arrests over the Christmas period following a clampdown on drink driving.
They also warned the increased number of checkpoints will continue to operate over the coming weeks with specific measures targeting tonight's New Year's Eve celebrations.
"The indications are that both accidents and arrests are down on last year," said a Garda spokesman. "It seems to be following a general downward trend each Christmas, suggesting that people are becoming more responsible. The days when drinking and driving was considered acceptable are long gone."
The start of the annual Christmas Road Safety Campaign at an earlier date is said to have contributed to the trend. By the time the campaign comes to an end in mid January, some 41,000 road checks wills have been mounted.
There had been a dramatic change in attitudes to drink driving, according to Supt Pat King of Pearse Street station. "People have become more conscious of the risks. If they are attending parties they'll decide to stay overnight instead of travelling home. Arrests for drunk driving have been quite low and are definitely down on last year.
During Christmas, the station mounted on average eight checkpoints a night, on a rolling basis every 30 minutes. It reported no fatalities and only minor injuries. It also has a specific plan of action for tonight's festivities.
Additional buses and taxis have been put on to cater for the increased demand and gardai are to monitor terminuses to ensure commuters feel safe.
Gardai in Galway also reported no fatalities over the holiday as well as a reduction in driving offences. "There were a few arrests in the weeks leading up to Christmas but over the Christmas week itself the number dropped significantly," said one garda.
As in other districts throughout the State, checkpoints have been mounted on a 24 hour basis, in both urban and rural areas. In remote parts of the State, the reduction in arrests has been helped by an increase in the use of mini buses and hackneys collecting people from bars and dropping them home.
In Limerick, gardai said more people were choosing to leave their cars at home. "Also, we've found a lot of people will go out in groups having decided one person won't drink. That practice wouldn't have been as common in the past," said one local garda.
Henry Street Garda station reported one fatal accident in the city over Christmas and a reduction in drink driving arrests.
Gardai in Cork reported a similar trend, saying the road safety campaign had brought about a significant change in attitudes.
Overall figures on accidents and arrests over the Christmas period will be available after January 16th when the drink driving campaign comes to an end. In the first 10 months of 1996, 379 people were killed and 8,711 were injured on Irish roads, a marginal increase on the same period in 1995.
