New roadside test for drug driving at Mayo checkpoints

GARDAÍ in Mayo have a new resource to tackle drug driving.

A new roadside testing system can detect six different types of drugs - cannabis, cocaine, benzodiazepines and opiates as well as amphetamines and methamphetamines.

A simple swab will give gardaí a result within two to eight minutes. If positive, you can be arrested.

Head of roads Inspector David Tieran told a Mayo Joint Policing Committee meeting on Friday how the Christmas and new year road safety campaign is now underway and aims to reduce the number of people driving under the influence of drink or drugs.

There will be checkpoints and patrols all over the county.

“If people are going to break the law, we will be there,” he stated.

Inspector Tiernan pleaded with people to plan their nights out, with designated drivers or arranging taxis.

Also on road safety, he urged peole to stay off their mobile phones and check your tyres have the correct thread depth.

There have been 148 deaths on Irish roads this year - four of those tragedies occurred in Mayo. That's 148 families without their loved ones this Christmas, he reminded people.

Committee members welcomed the roadside drug test, with Councillor Damien Ryan saying it was felt that quite an amount of people had been escaping the net.