Crime & Law

Recent rise in drink-driving detections in Kerry

First two months of 2017 saw 58 detections compared to 43 for same period last year

In 2016 there were 273 detections for drink-driving in Kerry, a drop of almost 10% on the previous year

Anne Lucey
Fri Mar 3 2017 - 20:35

Gardaí in Kerry have reported an increase in drink-driving detections, raising concern that road-safety messages are not getting through.

Crime figures for 2016 presented at a meeting of the county’s joint policing committee showed a marked decrease in driving while intoxicated, in line with a drop in crime in the county, including property and public order.

However, the first two months of this year saw 58 people detected driving with excess alcohol compared to 43 for the same period last year.

Kerry’s new chief superintendent Tom Myres said there had been nine arrests alone last weekend.

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The head of the Garda Traffic Division, Insp Tony Sugrue, said a number of “very high readings” were detected where the concentration of alcohol in the breath well exceeded the limit of 22 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. “Some of the readings are over 66 [microgrammes]…which is very high. And we are seeing readings of over 100 which is extremely high.”

In 2016 there were 273 detections for drink-driving in Kerry, a drop of almost 10 per cent on the previous year. However, Insp Sugrue expressed disappointment that 57 per cent of those caught were under the age of 40, and he said the message did not seem to be getting through to this group.

Some 84 of the 273 detections were aged 30 and under. Just four detections – three men and one woman – were in the 71-80 age bracket.

Most of the arrests for drink and drug-driving – there were nine detections of the latter last year – were at weekends between midnight and 4am.

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