A senior garda has said he is disheartened by the fact that millennials are not getting the message about drink-driving.
Assistant Commissioner for Roads Policing David Sheahan said that the majority of people caught driving under the influence of drink and drugs are men between the ages of 20 and 40, despite growing up in an era where drink-driving was unacceptable.
Speaking at the launch of the Road Safety Authority's Christmas Campaign, he also said that 1,050 people were caught driving under the influence over the Christmas period last year.
11 of those were on Christmas Day, and 82 were on New Years Eve and New Years day.
He said almost 60,000 breath tests have been carried out on motorists so far this year and gardaí would continue to be out in force over the Christmas period.
He warned people who were out drinking late at night to make sure they are alcohol free the next morning.
Mr Sheahan also reminded people that alcohol is a factor in half of pedestrian road deaths.
The RSA event also heard that between 2014-2017 3518 people suffered life altering injuries on Irish roads.
64% were men and 41% were ages between 35 and 65.
Of pedestrians and cyclists injured, the majority of these incidents took place on urban roads.
Kieran Walsh, 52, from Foxrock in Co Dublin was involved in a collision with a car while cycling home from his job in Bray just over a year ago.
He was left paralysed from the waist down.
Speaking to RTÉ News, Mr Walsh said he, his wife Orla and their three teenage daughters have had to adapt to this new reality.
He said he would have been "very active" prior to the accident and would have spent a lot of time engaged in activities with his children.
Mr Walsh said that "even going out for a bite to eat" or going to the cinema with his children can be difficult. He said his diet has changed as a result of the accident and he cannot even eat popcorn at the cinema anymore.
Mr Walsh said he takes over 30 tablets a day and does a number of physiotherapy exercises to maintain the limited movement he has, and to prevent his body from deteriorating.
He said he experiences spasms and "constant pain", and that wheelchair-users can often suffer from bedsores and infections, which "really impact on your ability to just be up and be well".
