A learner driver caught speeding in Co Cork had no insurance when he was stopped by police and tested positive for drugs during a roadside test on the M8 as part of Guardbank holiday weekend road execution operation.

In total, 158 drivers were caught driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs between 7am on Thursday, when the Garda operation began, and Sunday evening. During the same period, more than 1,200 speed detections were made.

Gardaí have warned drivers that Monday is often the most dangerous time on the roads over a bank holiday weekend as people return home from journeys.

They also highlighted three other notable incidents on the roads where vehicles were driven illegally while carrying a total of 18 people.

Apart from the incident on the M8 in Cork on Sunday morning, that afternoon another driver hit the center median on the M7 in Kildare at around 3pm, overturning his vehicle. The driver, who was in his 30s, did not have a driver’s license and tested positive for drugs.

Just after 5pm, also on Sunday, two vehicles crashed on the M7 in Tipperary and a driver was charged with dangerous driving.

In another incident, two drivers crashed on the M8 in Cork just after 8pm on Sunday, with one of them found to be over the legal alcohol limit.

“These four incidents directly involved 18 people in the vehicles, including children; Fortunately, no one seems to have been seriously injured,” said the surfer. Liam Geraghty from Garda Headquarters.

He added the combination of the clocks going back this weekend and the wet conditions emphasized the need for drivers to slow down. Although the second and third quarters of this year “saw significant reductions” in road deaths – after an increase in 2023 and the first quarter of this year – there were still “far too many” people killed this year.

While enforcement could be increased by the Gardaí on the roads, the biggest factor that could reduce fatal and serious injury crashes was drivers taking responsibility for their actions, surf said. Geraghty. He urged people to “report” irresponsible and illegal driving by family members, friends and loved ones.

In the first two days of the weekend, three people were killed, including a driver (43) who crashed on the R571 in Co Cork on Friday, a male pedestrian (52) who died when he was hit by a driver in a lorry in Dublin on Friday and a man (23) driving a car that crashed on the R294 in Co Sligo on Saturday.

Although road deaths in March were 14 more than in the corresponding period last year, they have since fallen compared to 2023. At the start of the bank holiday weekend, around 147 people had died on the roads since the start of the year, 10 less than the same period. last year’s period.

Police have singled out speeding and drunk driving as major factors in crashes that cause death and serious injury. In one case this weekend, a driver was caught traveling at 167km/h in an 80km/h zone at Leggagh, Castletown, Co Meath, while another driver was caught traveling at 157km /h in a 100 km/h zone in Quigley’s Point, Co. Donegal.

“These speeds are not random, but are deliberate and conscious decisions by drivers to substantially exceed the speed limit and endanger their lives and those of their passengers and other road users,” said Supt. Geraghty.