The Road Safety Authority and the Gardai are issuing an urgent road safety appeal to all road users to continue to take care this Easter bank holiday weekend.
It follows a worrying increase in road deaths in the first three months of the year.
Provisional figures show 50 people have lost their lives on Irish roads to date, compared to 27 in the same period last year.
Drivers – and walkers – planning to head out socialising over the weekend are being urged to plan their safe return home, in advance.
Locally, extra Garda checkpoints and patrols are being seen throughout Carlow and Kilkenny, as random breathalysing for drink and drug driving is continuing to occur.
Inspector with Kilkenny Roads Policing Unit Paul Donohoe is urging motorists to take particular care on the roads late into the night. ” If you’ve been drinking late into the night then do not drive on the roads early in the morning. Arrange it so you’re not driving until after lunch. We have stopped a lot of people in the morning who are still over the legal limit.”
