Drink Driving Arrests in Naas with Gardaí warning checkpoints are in operation

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.

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.

Gardaí in Co Kildare will be carrying out drink driving checkpoints on a daily basis over the Christmas and New Year.

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%).