Gardaí are conducting a 24 hour nationwide traffic operation today in the final National Slow Down Day of the year.
As thousands of people take to Irish roads this weekend to make the journey home for Christmas, An Garda Síochána are asking the public to please support tomorrow’s initiative by slowing down.
Additional traffic can be expected on the roads from today and so too is an increase in vulnerable road users, pedestrians and cyclists with more people out and about shopping, running errands and catching up with friends and family.
One in ten pedestrians hit by car travelling at 30km/h will die of their injuries. Five in ten of those out walking and struck by a car travelling 50km/h will be killed, and a car being driven at 60km/h and hits a pedestrian as a nine in ten chance of the collision being fatal.
Already this year, more than 150,000 Fixed Charge Notices have been issued to motorists for speeding – that’s 475 people every day.
Chief Superintendent in the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau, Jane Humphries said, “Thousands of you will begin making your journey home from tomorrow and while Gardaí will be out working to keep road users safe, we need your help. We need you to slow down and drive safely.”
“National Slow Down Day is aimed at getting people to talk about and be more mindful of their driving behaviour and the risks that they may take when behind the wheel.”
“No one sets out driving thinking that they won’t make it to their destination but there is every chance if you are speeding that you won’t. We need you to help us, help you to get home safely for Christmas.”
The National Slow Down Day traffic operation will run from 7am on Friday until 7am on Saturday with An Garda Síochána partnering with the RSA.
Sam Waide, Chief Executive of the Road Safety Authority said, “It is clear speeding continues to play a significant role in fatal collisions on Irish roads.”
“Self-report speeding behaviours and acceptability of speeding have been consistently high since 2020 and have yet to return to pre-COVID levels.”
“In addition, our most recent analysis of coronial data for driver deaths found that 26% of drivers with a record of their actions available were exceeding a safe speed in the lead-up to the fatal crash.”
