Gardai have issued a stern warning to the public after handing out 17 fixed penalty charges to motorists who travelled more than 5km from their home to visit the Wicklow Mountains this week.
Gardai issued the notices to motorists who they stopped in the Luggala area in Co Wicklow for contravening the 5km travel limit set out by Taoiseach Michael Martin last week as part of Ireland's Level Five restrictions to combat the surge in Covid-19 cases.
Despite the public only being permitted to travel within 5km of their homes, a number of motorists were caught flouting the rules to visit the Wicklow Uplands on Thursday.
Gardaí had already warned drivers to avoid the Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap due to treacherous road conditions due to widespread icy conditions on the roads.
In a post on the Garda Siochana Wicklow Facebook page, Gardai urged the public to obey the 5km limit and warned that officers will be patrolling the area in the coming days to hand out fixed penalty charges to anyone caught flouting the rules.
"17 fixed charge notices were issued to motorists in the Luggala area today," they wrote.
"Please stay within your 5km restrictions for exercise for all our sakes. "Gardaí will be actively patrolling the Wicklow uplands over the coming days to support compliance with the restrictions and, notwithstanding the pandemic, the weather conditions in these locations have resulted in dangerous driving conditions."
In a separate Facebook post shared on Friday, Gardai slammed locals for taking to the roads despite their warning for motorists to keep away from the Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap due to treacherous conditions.
"It is dangerous at present due to conditions and you are risking exposing the emergency services to unnecessary risk if we have to come to your assistance," they said.
