Gardai say people getting drink driving message

Gardai have said this week that people appear to be getting the message about drink driving after the latest crime stats from the CSO revealed that drink driving offences in Westmeath dropped by almost a quarter last year. In 2008 there were 432 drink driving offences recorded in Westmeath, compared to 332 last year, a drop of 23.1%. Drug driving decreased by a third in the same period, down from 51 in 2008 to 34 last year. Inspector Nicholas Farrell of Athlone Garda Station said: "Over the last year there has been a continued increase in the focus on the area of drink driving in the amount of check points we have had and where they were specifically set up. From the figures people are getting message that they can't drink and drive." Meanwhile, there were no incidents of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm recorded in Westmeath either year. These offences come under the dangerous or negligent acts category, which saw a decrease of 21.2% in the number of offences recorded last year, down to 400 from 508 in 2008.Other offences in this category include abandoning a child, child neglect and cruelty, which saw a 38% increase last year compared to 2008, with 29 such offences recorded in 2009, compared to 21 the previous year. Endangering traffic offences remained almost static, with five such offences recorded last year, compared to four the previous year.