A new fleet of unmarked Garda vehicles will patrol the roads for dangerous and reckless driving from next year.
Garda assistant commissioner Eddie Rock said yesterday that plans were advanced for a major clampdown on "ignorant" motoring habits, including dangerous overtaking.
A fleet of "inconspicuous", unmarked cars with beacons in the front grill and tail-lights would be introduced in each Garda division dedicated to policing such activities.
While the fleet would be in place next year, the exact introduction date depended on how soon the Garda felt it had effectively dealt with the country's drink driving "blight".
"I am committing resources on drink-driving. At the moment it's my big priority. But we will move on to dangerous driving very, very soon."
He said the third main area of Garda enforcement was speed, adding that while the drink-driving culture was changing "it's not changing fast enough".
In the first six months of the year, arrests for drink-driving were up 16 per cent compared to the same period last year. During the August bank holiday weekend, gardaí made over 300 arrests for drink-driving.
Mr Rock was speaking at the launch in Dublin yesterday of a National Safety Council (NSC) motorcycle safety campaign.
According to the NSC, motorcyclists accounted for 2 per cent of road users but 12 per cent of fatalities between 2000 and 2004. A rise in motorcycle accidents this year had raised that to 17 per cent.
Some 42 per cent of motorbike accidents were said to have been single-vehicle. Two out of three accidents happened on open roads, away from built-up areas.
John O'Neill, of the Irish Insurance Federation, joined the NSC in criticising the Government for failing to introduce compulsory training for bikers.
A spokesman for Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said: "The Minister is considering what additional reforms could be introduced that would contribute to motorcycling safety."
