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SPEED LIMITS ARE set to be reduced on many Irish roads under new plans being developed by Government.
Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers said that he will bring detailed proposals to Government this month advising the lowering of baseline speed limits on many roads.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Chambers said the changes were the result of a review that has been carried out over the past two years.
Under proposed changes, speed limits will be lowered from 100 km/h to 80 km/h on national secondary roads, from 80km/h to 60km/h on rural roads, while within towns, cities and built up areas, the limit will be 30km/h. Roads on the outskirts or arterial routes around urban areas will have a limit of 50km/h.
The 120 km/h speed limit on motorways and 100 km/h on national roads will remain as they are.
“So essentially what… we will be doing here is change the baseline of the default limits, where there will be discretion then to local authorities for good design and safety standards.
They can be revised upwards by local authorities in terms of local, rural and national secondary roads.
The announcement comes following the 127 deaths on Irish roads so far this year, which is 23 more than the same period in 2022 and 38 more than the same period in 2019.
One-third of deaths this year have been people under 25. Approximately a quarter (29) were pedestrians.
Government plans
Chambers said today that he wanted to “end the inconsistency and fragmentation of speed limits that we have across our road network”.
Changes to primary legislation are needed in order to lower the baseline speed limits.
Chambers said he hopes to introduce a Bill to the Houses of the Oireachtas before the end of the year. Recommendations will then be issued to local authorities who have the function of setting limits in their local areas.
“They’ve a devolved function but they comply with the guidance that we issue under the road traffic legislation,” he said. However, the Government has no power to compel local authorities to follow their recommended speed limits.
When questioned on timelines, Chambers said it would likely be the second half of 2024 at the earliest before the new limits come into effect.
“This is a measure which will have a significant impact on improving road safety, but to implement legislation and policy of this scale on essentially a network that’s nearly 100,000 kilometres of road… that is the that is the general timeline,” he said.
Immediate measures
Chambers also said he has had discussion with Justice Minister Helen McEntee in relation to the immediate measures that will be put in place in order lower the number of deaths happening on Irish roads.
McEntee announced earlier this week that the use of speed detection cameras operating on Irish roads will increase by 20%, with the Minister adding that she would be supportive of any measures that would “change people’s behaviour”.
Chambers said yesterday that the “anomaly” where motorists who have committed multiple offences in one incident only receive penalty points for the most serious offence has to be addressed
He also confirmed today the number of GoSafe speeding van hours has now been increased by 20%.
With reporting from Jane Moore
If people don’t abide by the speed limits currently in place, why would they abide by these new ones?
@Karen Lord: People can’t afford new cars and are late for work! It’s a golden era for Mechanics and insurers. Outta me way!
We’re among the lowest in the world for road deaths but this doesn’t fit the narrative that the media are peddling right now.
In Ireland, our road deaths per capita is 2.92, our suicide rate per capita is 9.6. And that does not include all the deaths “by misadventure”, so likely even worse.
Mental health services in this country are criminally under funded, it’s 3 times more than suicide deaths, but yet the RSA gets a massive budget and services like Pieta House are mostly publicly funded.
These proposed new speed limits will do absolutely nothing to reduce road deaths as they are already extremely low. The country is at peak employment right now, that means more people commuting, more opportunities for accidents. We need to start having adult conversation, driven by data, where numbers are presented as a rate (per capita) and not just a headline grabbing number.
The data does not lie, we have a minimum 3 times more people dying from suicide than road deaths and we need to hold our government to account.
@Joshua Walsh: *three times more than road deaths.
Condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one or mate in a road collision. I, too, have.
But this is a joke.
Should be looked at by each road and not just road networks.
Reduce speeds at accident hot spots etc.
Roads don’t kill people. Drivers do.. First offence drivers school. Larger fines also for those that do speed.
The drivers who are staying within the speed limits are been affected by those that speed!
Any evidence of how many fatalities/ serious injuries are caused by people driving under the current limits but over the proposed ones? It’s a lot easier for a Minister to change the law than to ensure it’s enforced.
Just listening to minister Jack Byrnes on radio one. The man hasn’t a clue he sounded like he was reading from a script. How do ministers get jobs in areas that they know absolutely nothing about?
@reg morrisey: the main asset to have in irish politics is the ability to waffle and spoof.
@reg morrisey: Imagine complaining about a minister “not having a clue” while getting his name so badly wrong.
60kph on all rural roads! No chance. This will fix nothing. Smacks of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
Absolute madness. Another way to force people from their cars under the guise of road safety. Driving will be utterly pointless soon. FML
Here’s an idea – some JOURNALIST should do an INVESTIGATION of the road deaths in the country and come back with facts and figures as to how many fatalities occurred where the primary cause was people going too fast on the road while at the same time obeying the speed limit. Once these have been determined then they should delve further into those deaths in such circumstances to see if weather conditions, drink/drug/phone use, unsafe road surfaces or other factors were a more significant contributor to the accident than the speed the car was going. Because if there aren’t many deaths attributable to this then the current plan to reduce a ton of them will not change the number of deaths one whit. There are some roads where the 80 limit is ludicrous of course, but many roads can support the 80 limit and to throw a blanket over them and reduce them all to 80 would be a gross mistake and a complete overreaction. By all means reduce speed limits in places where they have proven to be unsafe, or where engineers recommend a change for the road to which it is applied. There has been little or no discussion of this in any news coverage I have heard – all I am hearing is the Government spokesperson saying how much this is needed and the journalist asking why can’t they implement this right now. Very tired journalism. We have better cars and better roads than we have ever had. Lastly, I agree with the other poster who mentioned teenagers on tractors and would add that they are usually also on a mobile phones.
Be nice if the government had real plans for enforcement, the plague of mobile usage is ga ga and it would be so easy…
Mobil phones are a far bigger problem.
And how will it be enforced, are the government gonna put more speed vans on the roads with contracts to companies that will charge us if they dont make enough on fines like we have with the current set up?. I assume we will see at least 10-20k new gardai being recruited for traffic core as well as dealing with the current crimes on streets then if no new speed vans….right?. Or will they lower the speed limits, leave gardai to do checkpoints for revenue collecting on motorways where the majority of the RTA’a dont happen and we will still see deaths happen on back roads where theres never a checkpoint
Bold move but will count for nothing if there isn’t enforcement to back it up.
Enforcement of seat belt laws, with cars being confiscated, would also make a huge dent in the number of people dying.
@Justin Gillespie: Confiscate your car because you didnt wear a seatbelt! Youre away with the fairies
Out here on the country roads it’s the trucks and tractors that are really dangerous. They simply should not allow these huge HUGE vehicles on roads that were designed for a donkey.
On top of that they do not allow the ditches to be cut so by the end of summer the roads are literally not big enough to pass and you have no idea if there’s a wall inside.
The speed limit decrease is a desperate attempt by the government to avoid looking impotent- there are good solutions out there but this isn’t one.
I agree that addressing individual road conditions and traffic management is the way to go- but that would require actual change in the way roads are managed.
Total waste of time and money, why not tackle the real problem, No Enforcement anywhere.
If they don’t heed the speed limit now… how will that make a difference.
Also people put the phone down when driving
Sleepy getting his way again
Another ridiculous attempt to fix an issue and definitely not a solution. Useless as usual and costly as all the signalisation will probably have to be changed… Well done lads, can’t wait you are not reelected.
It’s always slightly amusing how we Irish ‘Opus Dei’ or problems. This won’t change anything but is enough of a glance at a waaay bigger problem to satisfy Joe Public until next year and the same or similar situation arises again. Carry On Ireland, you will never fix anything
Start taking people cars away and handing out suspensions for breaking road traffic laws.
Anyone who is breaking the speed limit is more than willing to pay the fee. Can’t really call it a fine
All those people (including myself unfortunately! ) who keep making unnecessary donations to the government will be delighted with this.
have your say