Gardaí have launched a six-week road safety campaign.
It is targeting four specific areas: drink driving, speeding, seat belt compliance and vulnerable road users.
In 2003, 11,344 people were arrested for drink driving. It is estimated that alcohol is the primary cause of a third of all fatal road crashes.
But gardaí say speeding still remains the greatest contributory factor to road deaths.
In Dublin, Operation Freeflow also comes into effect today. The annual ban on non-essential roadworks will run from today until 7 January.
