An Garda Siochana are running their ‘National Slow Down Day’ campaign from Tuesday, which involves a national speed enforcement operation for 24 hours.
The campaign kicked off this morning at 7am, and Gardai have already clocked up a number of speeding instances, with more expected throughout the night.
Within the first two hours of monitoring roads, An Garda Siochana and GoSafe had checked 24,922 vehicles and found 123 of them to be driving in excess of the speed limit in the area.
Breaches were detected in Cork, Galway, Kerry, Sligo, Louth, Offaly, Meath, Limerick and Dublin.
By the fifth hour, 47,116 vehicles had been checked, with the number of those speeding increasing to 277.
At this stage, some of the greatest speeds recorded included 89km/h in a 50km/h zone on the Skehard Road, Cork, 130km/h in a 100km/h zone on the M50 Tymon North Dublin and 105km/h in an 80km/h zone on the R178 Redbog, Carrickmacross, Monaghan.
By the ninth hour, 454 vehicles had been registered as speeding, with 89,400 checked overall.
Notable breaches of speed limits caught by the Gardai later today include 94km/h in a 50km/h zone in Main Street, Oola, Limerick, 152km/h in a 120km/h zone on the M7 Mooretown, Kildare and 119km/h in an 80km/h zone on the N4 Doddsborough, Lucan.
The day is being marked in order to “remind drivers of the dangers of speeding, to increase compliance with speed limits and act as a deterrent to driving at excessive or inappropriate speed”.
A statement from the Gardaí said: “The overall objective is to reduce the number of speed related collisions, save lives and reduce injuries on our roads.”
Michael Hennebry, Chief Superintendent Garda National Roads Policing Bureau, said: "Our enforcement operations continue to detect motorists traveling at speeds significantly above the posted speed limits.
“This reckless behaviour poses a serious risk not just to the motorists themselves, but to all the road users, especially vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists. This is not just about speeding enforcement detections. It's about saving lives”.
The Road Safety Authority are supporting Gardai on this campaign. Their CEO Sam Waide said: “It has been estimated that 30% of fatal collisions are the result of speeding or inappropriate speed. Evidence shows that many drivers are choosing to speed in our towns, villages and on rural roads.
“Slow down – drive at a speed that is appropriate to the conditions and your experience and remember a speed limit is not a target.”
