Gardaí To Hold \"Slow Down day\" To Reduce Fatal Speed Related Collisions

An Garda Síochána will conduct a national speed enforcement operation \”Slow Down”, supported by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and other stakeholders, for a 24 hour period from 7am on Friday, May 25th to 7am on Saturday, May 26th.

Reducing the number of speed related collisions, saving lives and reducing injuries on our roads are key objectives of \”Slow Down day\”.  Gardaí aim to remind drivers of the dangers of speeding, increase compliance with speed limits and act as a deterrent to driving at excessive or inappropriate speed.

In terms of road safety, 2017 was the lowest on record with 157 road deaths, however it is still 157 road deaths too many. An Garda Síochána said we can never be complacent about road safety.

Excessive and inappropriate speed is a major contributory factor in road traffic collisions, further confirmed by the recent RSA report on fatal collisions between 2008 and 2012 which found that excessive speed was a contributory factor in one third of all fatal collisions during that time.

As a general rule a 1% reduction in average speed will bring about a 4% reduction in fatal collisions, and this is why reducing motorists’ speed is essential to improving road safety.

Chief Superintendent Finbarr Murphy, Roads Policing Bureau said:

\”We appeal to all drivers to slow down and support our National Slow Down day. This will reduce injury and tragedy on the road. Although last year was the safest on record in terms of road safety, there is no room for complacency.

\”Please stick strictly to the posted speed limit, but if the road, traffic or especially weather conditions dictate…reduce your speed even further. This will make the journey safer not only for you, but for every road user sharing the road with you.

\”We ask drivers to slow down not just on Slow Down day, but every day. We will continue to target irresponsible drivers who speed or put others at risk. This will be greatly enhanced by the 87 newly appointed Roads Policing members, which will increase to 150 by the end of 2018.”

The operation will consist of high visibility speed enforcement in speed enforcement zones.

There are over 1,000 of these which can be found here.

As of today (May 23rd), there have been 58 road fatalities in 2018. In addition, from January 1st to March 31st 2018 there have been 24,216 speeding detections.

The penalty for speeding is 3 penalty points and an €80 euro fine if paid within 28 days.