National: Dozens of motorists caught driving 'under the influence' this Easter, gardai confirm

Since launching their Easter road safety campaign, gardai have detected 140 motorists who are suspected of driving under the influence of an intoxicant.

Gardai say additional checkpoints and visible patrols have been mounted at locations across the country as part of the operation which began just before the bank holiday weekend.

A number of individual incidents have been highlighted across social media and in a general update, issued this Monday afternoon, gardai revealed that more than 130 vehicles were caught speeding on Easter Sunday alone.

"Since the start of our Easter bank holiday roads enforcement operation there have been three fatal road traffic collisions and 140 incidents detected involving drivers suspected of being under the influence of an intoxicant," said a spokesperson.

In the majority of cases, fixed charge penalty notices will be issued to drivers caught speeding while the results of analysis of samples will determine what happens in the case of those suspected of either drink driving or drug driving.

The Easter road safety operation continues until 7am on Tuesday and gardai say there will be a particular focus on busy primary routes this Monday evening as tens of thousands of people return home following the bank holiday weekend.