The number of Gardaí working in roads policing in 2023 was at its lowest in 6 years.
Department of Justice data analysed by the advocacy group Parc and published in the Irish Times, shows there were 641 Gardaí assigned to roads policing at the end of November, 47 less than at the start of last year.
It comes after the worst year for road deaths in over a decade.
184 people were killed on Irish roads in 2023, and David Martin from the Road Safety Authority says nights and weekends, were the most dangerous times:
"Looking at the figures, looking at that, we're seeing that that weekend, late nights and early mornings have been high risk periods throughout the year. And despite the lower traffic volumes, there have been a high number of collisions, and the evidence really suggests that these periods presents greater risks anyway in terms of drink and drug driving, and driver fatigue".
