Drug driving figures double in 2020

Drug driving figures for County Cavan have more than doubled in two years with detections already exceeding 100 for 2020.

In 2018 the figure for drug driving stood at 48 and, as of Friday December 3, it was 109. Sergeant James Gallagher of Cavan Roads Policing Unit revealed the figures at a recent Joint Policing Committee meeting.

Sgt Gallagher explained that the road side devices, which can detect cocaine, opiates and cannabis, have been available to gardaí since 2016. Meanwhile the same presentation showed that drink driving offences had declined to 136 so far this year, having remained static at 196 and 200 in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Of drink driving he noted of the 2020 figures to date: “Again there has been a hugely reduced level of traffic due to Covid, our [drink driving] detections are back a small bit but, from what I have seen since August, they are starting to rise again due to the increase in traffic,” said Sgt Gallagher.

Cllr Patricia Walsh was “delighted” that drug driving detections had increased this year.

“It’s probably worse than drink driving,” she supposed, “because it stays in their system for a long time.”

The Fianna Fáil councillor added that “drugs are a serious problem in all of our communities, and it’s something we want to stamp out”.

With regard to road deaths Sgt Gallagher observed: “In 2020 and 2019 all the fatal collisions have been on national routes in County Cavan.”

He added: “Of the 10 fatalities [in Co Cavan] since 2017, six have been drivers of vehicles, two have been passengers and two have been pedestrians.”

He also displayed a national graph of age groups against days and times of the week that accidents occur.

“From Thursday evening to Sunday is the higher risk times for fatal and serious collisions, and the categories that really stand out are the 17-24 year olds and 25-34 year olds,” said Sgt Gallagher.

Phones

There was again a significant decrease in the number of mobile phone offences but Sgt Gallagher stressed a recent change in how drivers were using their devices. “Mobile phone offences are not just talking on the phone. It’s also texting and watching videos while driving. The concept of having the mobile phone on the knee and looking down at the phones while driving along is becoming a major, major problem - a lot more so than actually talking on the phone.”

The meeting was also addressed by Eilsh McDonagh, senior road safety officer with the Road Safety Authority, who explained that the current seven-year Road Safety Strategy was coming to the end and a new one was being compiled and is expected to be completed by mid-2021. The consultation period had resulted in over 800 submissions from the public. Also, the government agreed in June the next strategy should include a ‘Vision Zero’.

“It is a long term view,” Ms McDonagh told the meeting, “that by 2050 there will be no fatalities or serious injuries on our roads. It is quite ambitious but it is doable.”

The first road strategy was published in 1998. Although to highlight their effectiveness, she referred to 1972, which had 640 road fatalities in the Republic, compared to 140 in 2019. The target for 2020 had been 124, which the country will sadly not reach, but Ms McDonagh said: “We have been successful in getting near to it.”

The Republic is ranked second in EU and fourth in the world in terms of road safety.

“That’s a huge achievement for us as a country,” observed Ms McDonagh.

Anti-drug driving, drink driving and ‘morning after’ campaigns run each December for the entire month, and she explained that this year’s Christmas road campaign will focus on the emergency services: “Our hospitals are struggling as it is with Covid, and so are our emergency services, so we are trying to get the public to think of it in that way when they are out using the roads to be considerate because our resources are already impacted.”