Bank holiday drivers urged to be mindful of pedestrians

Motorists have been urged to be careful this bank holiday weekend as latest figures show a doubling of pedestrian deaths so far this year.

Overall the number of deaths have increased by 9% from 55 to 60.

But pedestrian deaths have doubled from nine to 18 up to 26 May compared to the same period last year.

Director of the Road Safety Authority Michael Rowland said more people have been out walking and jogging during the Covid-19 restrictions.

He urged both motorists and vulnerable road users to follow safety precautions this weekend.

Gardaí will be mounting road blocks as increased traffic is expected despite the 5km travel restriction still in force.

A total of 3,070 motorists have been detected driving under the influence of an intoxicant so far this year which is nearly the same as the figure for the same period last year, which was 3,181.

And drug driving detections have increased by 90% from 478 last year to 901.

This is despite traffic volumes being reduced by up to 60% during the lockdown.

Figures for speeding have increased with 31,978 detections by Go Safe vans so this year compared to 30,850 last year.