People are being warned to slow down and not be distracted on the roads during this bank holiday weekend.
Since a Garda operation began on Thursday morning to help prevent road accidents, there have been 20 arrests for driving while under the influence of drink or drugs.
More than 200 drivers have been caught speeding out of over 200,000 vehicles checked.
Chief Superintendent Jane Humphries urged people to be vigilant this bank holiday weekend, particularly on Friday which is the riskiest day for collisions on the last weekend in October.
She said the clocks go back an hour on Saturday night, which could see more socialising and a change in the weather which can result in difficult driving conditions.
“If you’re going out for a drink, please, please ensure that you have got a lift home. Whatever you do, do not go behind the wheel of your car intoxicated,” she said in Dublin on Friday.
We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.
“Every arrest that we make for drink or drug driving we are saving a life on the roads. We have prevented that person from going on ahead and causing a collision which could quite easily take their life or the life of somebody else.”
She said that there would be more checkpoints on the bank holiday weekend, which usually sees more cars on the road.
While people are often caught committing a combination of offences, the most common factors in collisions are speed and distraction, Ms Humphries said.
“We talk a lot about mobile phones, but it’s any type of distraction, it could be thinking about what we have to do when we get home, it could be looking at something else on the side of the road.
“If we get the simple things right we can save lives on the road,” she said.
There has been a greater focus on reducing road deaths after several tragic crashes last year in which young people were killed.
There were 184 fatalities on Irish roads last year, up on previous figures.
So far this year, 143 people have been killed in road traffic collisions, which is down on 154 people killed during the same period last year.
We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.
Ms Humphries said there were “some small but very hopeful signs” that there is greater compliance with speed limits, which will help reduce car crashes.
New average speed cameras on the M5 and M3 are being introduced from today to help change people’s behaviours, she said.
“The cameras are not there to punish anybody, the cameras are there quite simply to save lives.”
Asked whether there should be aids to help remind drivers not to be distracted, she said: “I think if we start reminding people, we’re taking responsibility away from the driver and give the responsibility to some device.
“It’s the responsibility of the driver not to be distracted, it should not be the responsibility of the device that you’re being distracted.”