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RSA and An Garda Siochána have issued an appeal to drivers to slow down and save lives.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána have appealed to drivers, in the run up to the June bank holiday weekend, to safe lives by reducing speed and to always drive at a speed appropriate to all the prevailing conditions.

Over 70,000 speeding offences have already been detected in 2015. Nearly 80% of those detections were for speeds between 10 and 29km/h over the posted speed limit - a further 10% were in excess of 30km/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 - namely summer time. In the last five years 256 people have died during the months of June, July and August, indicating that over the next three months some 51 lives could be lost in summer time collisions on the nation’s roads.

EXCESSIVE SPEEDING LOCALLY

The highest speed in breach of the posted speed limit for the Cork North Garda Division area so far this year was recorded on April 16th at Ballinglanna North, Kilworth where a driver was detected driving at 148km in a 50km zone.

Meanwhile, on the same date, a motorist drove 117km in a 60km zone in Townpark, West Lismore in the Waterford Division.

A driver was caught doing 166km in an 80km zone at Birdhill in the Tipperary Division, while in the Limerick Garda Division, the highest breach of the speed limit occurred in Rosbrien where a driver drove 130km in a 50km zone.

Speaking at the launch of the joint road safety campaign, Ms Moyagh Murdock, chief executive RSA said, “People assume that there are more risks in the winter time because of the poor weather, poor road conditions and more hours of darkness. But the opposite is true. Summer time 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.”

While chief superintendent Mark Curran, Garda National Traffic Bureau, speaking at the launch in Garda HQ 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 200km/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.”

AWARENESS INITIATIVE

In a further practical effort to promote road safety ahead of the June bank holiday weekend, the RSA, An Garda Síochána and Applegreen are planning an initiative aimed at tired drivers.

On Friday, May 29 and Monday, June 1, Applegreen will provide free coffee to tired drivers between 2pm and 8pm at 17 participating service stations around the country.

Drivers simply mention the ‘RSA’ to the till operator and they will receive a free cup of coffee on the Friday and Monday.

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