An operation by gardaí in Ballina to clamp down on modified cars between September 26 and October 10 saw the gardaí in the north Mayo town intercept 63 cars, Sgt Tony Lavelle told a meeting of the Ballina Joint Policing Committee this week.
As part of the operation 18 cars were stopped for having non-conforming number plates or noisy exhausts, 24 people were stopped for road traffic offences, including five for driving on a provisional licence, one for drunk driving, two for having no insurance, and two cars were seized by the Gardaí.
Sgt Lavelle said the operation had been so successful the Chief Superintendent in the county had been looking at rolling the operation out countywide. Inspector Joe Doherty also commented that the operation had been a big success and that common sense had prevailed in a lot of the issues following the interception of the cars and the faults were corrected within a week by most of those stopped.
The report on the operation was welcomed by the members of the committee. “I’m delighted to hear of the success of this operation,” Cllr Peter Clarke told the meeting. Cllr Gerry Ginty also complimented the gardaí and the young people who were stopped, saying, “It’s great to hear that the young people who were stopped took heed of what they were being told and complied with the Gardaí when asked”.
