LAST UPDATE | 21 Oct 2021

GARDAÍ HAVE CAUGHT 316 motorists speeding in the first five hours of a major speed enforcement operation as part of National Slow Down Day.

Motorists across the country are being urged to slow down on the roads today. 

Officers along with GoSafe crews have checked 144,460 vehicles today.

The operation is running for 24 hours, until 7am tomorrow, and will consist of high-visibility garda activities in all 1,322 speed enforcement zones.

The aim of the operation is 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.

Notable detections by gardaí so far today include:

• 140km/h in a 120km/h zone on the M4, Towlaght, Clonard, Meath.
• 135km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N7, Brownsbarn, Dublin 22.
• 116km/h in a 80km/h zone on the M50, Kilmore Big, Dublin 17.
• 114km/h in a 60km/h zone on the N62, Clongower, Thurles, Tipperary.
• 134km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N18, Ballinacurra, (Weston), Limerick.
• 129km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N7. Castlewarden, South Kill, Kildare.
• 128km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N20. Creggane, Charleville, Limerick.
• 126km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N21. Rineroe, Adare, Limerick.
• 125km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N11. Timmore, Newcastle, Wicklow.

For the rest of the operation, An Garda Síochána will be focusing its enforcement activity across all speed limit zones, but said there will be a particular focus on rural roads.

Gardaí said this is because almost four out of five (78%) fatalities to date this year have happened on rural roads. These are roads with a speed limit of 80km/h or above. 

“It is important to thank all those drivers who do the right thing and drive not only within the necessary speed limits, but at speeds that are appropriate to the conditions,” Superintendent Thomas Murphy said at the launch of Slow Down Day. 

“However, there are some drivers who ignore our speed limits and put themselves and others at risk. This is especially true on rural roads which are often narrow and where bends and corners restrict a driver’s vision,” Murphy said. 

“There are no margins for error on these roads which is why drivers need to slow down when using them. 

“We are asking all drivers to support our national Slow Down Day, not just on Slow Down Day but every day. If we all slow down a little we can make a big difference,” he said. 

Five people have been killed and 59 people have been seriously injured in October Bank Holiday collisions between 2016 and 2020. 

As of 19 October, there have been 113 people killed on Irish roads as a result of 103 fatal collisions so far this year.