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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Cormac O'Shea

Gardai show locations of checkpoints and speed vans in warning to motorists

Pictures of garda checkpoints and speed van locations have been shared by gardai as they warn motorists to be careful this bank holiday weekend.

Fatalities on the road are up this year with a decision just made by the government to up fines for dangerous driving offences.

And gardai will be out in force this weekend checking for speed as well as drug/alcohol tests and other lifesaver offences.

One checkpoint was set up in Clare on Friday along the N18 where two people died in the last year.

Read more: Road rules change on the way in 'weeks' as motorists warned of driving behaviour

A garda spokesperson said: "Clare Roads Policing Unit conducting a high visibility speed checkpoint yesterday on the N18 in a location that has seen two fatal road traffic collisions in the last year. Please drive carefully and #SlowDown this Bank Holiday weekend."

Images were also shared on official garda pages of speed vans in multiple counties, gardai tweeted: "GoSafe vans in counties Kildare, Laois, Westmeath and Clare earlier today. Please drive carefully and #SlowDown this bank holiday weekend. A single life lost on our roads is too many."

Official social media accounts will continue to update the public on checkpoints and major checkpoints across the weekend in a bit to deter more loss of life.

The Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána's mid-summer road safety appeal came earlier this week, which urged road users to share the roads safely and for drivers to slow down as the peak summer holiday season gets into full swing.

Minister Naughton said evidence from the Road Safety Authority shows that a number of fatalities on the roads are as a result of people speeding, using mobile phones while driving, and not wearing seat belts.

She told RTE: "But this year alone, over 100,000 of these offences were committed, so this is simply not acceptable.

"What I want to do is to bring in a measure with almost immediate effect, to increase the fines which will act as a deterrent for people on the roads, particularly in the month of August - a very busy month where people are holidaying, we have a lot of tourists visiting Ireland.

"There's more schoolchildren out and about, and we're asking people to slow down on our roads and to be extra vigilant, particularly for our pedestrians, cyclists, and vulnerable road users."

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