James Cox & Cillian Doyle.
Gardaí caught nearly 1,000 motorists speeding after checking 150,605 vehicles on National Slow Down Day.
National Slow Down Day was held over a 24-hour period between 7am on Friday, March 26th and 7am this morning.
An Garda Síochána and GoSafe checked 150,605 vehicles and detected 994 vehicles travelling in excess of the applicable speed limit.
National Slow Down Day ran from 7am yesterday to 7am this morning - with 150 thousand vehicles checked in total.
Among those speeding was a driver doing 83 kilometres an hour in a 60 zone in Carlow.
Speaking to Beat News, Traffic Corp Sergeant for Carlow/Kilkenny Michelle Byrne says the speed limit is not a target:
"In relation to somebody driving at 60km per hour - if you have a collision with a pedestrian they have a 10% chance of survival, so that a 90% chance of being killed - whereas if you half your speed to 30km, they have a 90% chance of survival- and that's huge and that's something a driver should really be aware of- the speed limit is not a target."
"When you're driving be aware of your surroundings and what is the speed limit- and we are asking you to reduce that speed limit - if it's only by 1% so be it but perhaps to ask the people in the South East to slow between 5 and 10 per cent so we can make the roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists."
Speaking following the awareness campaign, Chief Superintendent Ray McMahon (Roads Policing Bureau) said: "It is concerning that despite advanced warning and our widely-circulated appeals to slow down that a significant number of motorists still failed to drive safely within the applicable speed limit. In the course of today’s campaign we detected a number of vehicles which were being driven at well in excess of the speed limit.”
Among the detections were:
- 122km/h in a 50km/h Zone in Donegal.
- 96Km/H in a 60Km/h Zone in Dublin.
- 114Km/h in an 80Km/h Zone in Dublin.
- 155Km/h in a 120Km/h Zone in Louth.
- 183km/h in a 120km/h Zone on the M1 Dunmahon Dundalk Louth.
- 91km/h in a 50km/h Zone on the R707 Burgagery Lands East Clonmel Tipperary.
- 75km/h in a 50km/h Zone on the N78 Drumgoole Castlecomer Kilkenny.
- 90km/h in a 60km/h Zone on the N25 Lemybrien Lemybrien Waterford.
- 83km/h in a 60km/h Zone on the R726 Pollerton Big Carlow Carlow.
- 64km/h in a 50km/h Zone on the R742 Parknacross Courtown Wexford.
Superintendent McMahon added:
Chief Superintendent Ray McMahon continued: “If a pedestrian or other vulnerable road-user is hit by a vehicle travelling at such speeds, unfortunately the outcome will inevitably be a serious injury or fatality.
“I would like to thank our partners the RSA and TII for their co-operation / assistance in today’s campaign, and GoSafe who carry out speed enforcement on behalf of An Garda Síochána.
“Of course I would also like to thank the majority of those who continue to travel within the speed limits. I would reiterate once again that this appeal to slow down is not only for one day, but for every day. #SpeedKills
“We will continue to maintain our focus on non-compliant drivers as they pose a risk to themselves and other road users.”
