Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has insisted the dangerous-driving phenomenon involving young men stealing cars and filming themselves for social media is “not a crisis” but “unquestionably a trend” following the deaths of five teenagers in a wrong-way crash on the M9 in Co Kildare.
Speaking at a full press conference on Monday, August 17, the Justice Minister condemned what he described as “outrageously dangerous criminal behaviour”.
He said responsibility for the tragedy lay with the five individuals who drove the wrong way along the motorway, adding that their actions caused their deaths and left a family of four in hospital with serious injuries.
Mr O’Callaghan confirmed that dedicated Garda pursuit training will begin for the first time this year.
He explained that Gardaí currently receive response and advanced-driving instruction but “haven’t had pursuit training as of yet”.
He stressed, however, that officers will still face extremely difficult split-second decisions over whether pursuing a wrong-way driver could place more innocent motorists in danger.
The Government will also consider creating a separate offence for deliberately driving against motorway traffic.
The Justice Minister described such behaviour as “using a car as a weapon” and warned those involved in dangerous car crime that they could “end up in jail” or “end up in a grave”.
He also called on social-media companies to remove videos that glorify criminal behaviour, arguing that platforms are failing to enforce their own rules while dangerous driving footage continues to circulate and influence young people.
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