TD wants drivers to learn from his mistake

GOVERNMENT deputy chief whip Billy Kelleher wants more drivers to get the road safety message - after he was caught speeding on his way to the Dáil.

Mr Kelleher was caught driving at 120kph in a 100kph zone and was fined €80 by gardaí, with two penalty points put on his licence.

It was the second time Mr Kelleher has been caught speeding in 15 years.

Mr Kelleher yesterday appeared on RTÉ Radio after the Irish Examiner revealed he had been caught speeding.

He said: "I make the law, I broke the law and I was prosecuted. I accept that."

He said he wanted other people to learn from his mistake and called on them to slow down and obey speed limits.

"I take what happened very seriously. Everybody has a need to obey the rules of the road and the laws in respect of speeding (so we can stop) the excessive carnage we have on the road.

"I just apologise. I did not set out intentionally to break the speed limit. I was on the Cashel bypass and I was not travelling through villages or towns.

"I've learned my lesson."

Now the deputy is urging motorists to allow plenty of time to reach their destination.

"An Garda Síochána have mounted a campaign to reduce the awful carnage on our roads and we should all be conscious of that and take our time," he said.

The Cork North Central TD was on his way to the Dáil when he was caught speeding on the Cashel bypass in Co Tipperary on January 24.

He was pulled over by the guards for driving 20kph above the 100kph speed limit.

Speeding motorists have been blamed by Transport Minister Martin Cullen for the rising death toll on the roads.

More than 50 people have been killed since the start of the year with four of those in the space of just one hour last Sunday

Deputy Kelleher told RTÉ: "I am a lawmaker and I speak about the need to address the carnage on the roads.

"As a public representative I have attended funerals of people I have known and constituents of mine who have been destroyed by accidents on the roads, losing their lives."

On the wrong side of law

PUBLIC figures who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law include:

* Fianna Fáil deputy GV Wright was fined €900 and banned from driving for two years after a drink-drive accident left a pedestrian with a broken leg in 2003.

* Last year former minister Jim McDaid was banned from the roads for two years for drink-driving after he was caught motoring the wrong way down the old Naas-Newbridge dual carriageway

* Kathy Sinnott, member of the European Parliament for Ireland South, last year admitted she had six penalty points after being caught speeding three times.