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Sinn Féin Councillor Lisa Marie Sheehy from Glenroe.

Last Monday Sinn Féin Councillor, Lisa Marie Sheehy from Glenroe, proposed a motion to introduce 20km speed limits to housing estates in Limerick City and County at a Strategic Policy Committee meeting concerned with travel and transportation.

This campaign for a 20km speed limit in housing estates is in line with the Jake’s Law campaign being run nationally by the mother of Jake Brennan, aged 6, who died in her arms after being knocked down by a car near his home in Lintown Grove, Kilkenny, last June.

Speaking to The Avondhu, Cllr Sheehy stated her motion was passed having received ‘phenomenal support from members in the SPC and will now be referred back to full council for approval’.

“The objective of this motion is to introduce a level of safety to housing estates in which children live, play, chase, kick football, hurl and ride their bikes. This reduction is appropriate when you consider that 362 children aged 14 and under lost their lives on our roads between 1997 and 2012 and 57% of children's injuries occurred in built up areas," she said.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT NEEDED

It was raised by a number of members that while they supported the motion, that enforcement was key. Gardai and speed vans understandably can’t be monitoring speed in housing estates at times so this will need community support and monitoring so as to succeed also.

“By enforcing this we can show the people in our city and county council that we really take safety seriously and we will work tirelessly with the relevant officials to ensure enforcement is implemented and more importantly, maintained. The slower a vehicle is travelling the less damage that can be done and if just one life can be saved then this speed limit is worth implementing," Ms Sheehy stated.

PILOT SCHEME

5 estates in the Cappamore/Kilmallock constituency will be piloted with a 30km limit to see how enforceable it is. When Jake’s Law is approved by the council, the 20km will then be introduced. Cllr Sheehy is urging people with concerns regarding the speed in their housing estates, to let the municipal area know so their area can be included in the pilot.

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