Emergency Services are supporting this weekend’s road safety campaign to coincide with the June Bank Holiday weekend. Gardai, the Road Safety Authority and Local Authority Road Safety Officers are appealing to drivers to safe lives by reducing speed and to always drive at a speed appropriate to all the prevailing conditions.
Nationally, over 70,000 speeding offences have already been detected in 2015. Nearly 80% of those detections were for speeds between 10 and 29 km/h over the posted speed limit. A further 10% were in excess of 30 km/h over the posted speed limit.
Figures show that the June Bank Holiday has consistently been the starting point for what is traditionally the most dangerous period on Ireland’s roads – summertime. In the last five years 256 people have died in June, July and August. Over the next three months it is possible therefore those 51 lives could be lost in summer time crashes on the nation’s roads.
Ms. Moyagh Murdock, Chief Executive, Road Safety Authority said, “People assume that there are more risks in the wintertime because of the poor weather, poor road conditions and more hours of darkness. But the opposite is true. Summertime is more dangerous. Probably because there are no obvious dangers, the weather is fine and days brighter. So we relax our guard. From the June Bank Holiday weekend onwards we really do need to have road safety at the top of our minds. Cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists are most at risk and drivers really do need to keep their wits about them, slow down and always be ready to react.”
Chief Superintendent Mark Curran, Garda National Traffic Bureau said, “We know excessive or inappropriate speed is the main contributory factor in road traffic collisions. If it goes wrong for you on the road, the greater the speed at which you crash, the more severe the consequences will be. Already there have been in excess of 70,000 drivers detected speeding in 2015, with the vast majority travelling far in excess of what is legally permitted including one driver detected travelling at nearly 200 km/h . This is incredibly dangerous and totally unacceptable. Please help us to make the summer months ahead, what is traditionally a high risk period on the roads, a safe and enjoyable one for all road users. Reduce speed, drive to all the prevailing conditions, and watch out for all other road users.”
In Kildare, Gardai, Fire and Ambulance personnel have re-visited a previous campaign to support the local road safety initiative ‘Speeding Kills’ to coincide with this weekend’s campaign. Kildare County Council’s Road Safety Officer Declan Keogh said “The June Bank Holiday weekend is probably one of the busiest of them all, therefore, that in itself makes it that more dangerous n the roads with the extra traffic volumes. We are appealing to drivers to drive within the speed limit, adjust your speed accordingly and overall, reduce your speed while driving. Motorists driving at excessive speeds have killed so many people over the years, so the message is, Speeding Kills – Slow Down”.
Top Photo: L-R: Martin Dunne, Director, HSE National Ambulance Service, Niall O’ Riordan, Snr. Ass. Chief Fire Officer, Kildare Fire Service and Garda Inspector Patsy Glennon, Kildare Garda Division. (File Photo)
