Gardaí to launch crackdown on ‘boy racers’

GARDAÍ are to launch a major crackdown on so-called “boy racers” in a bid to ease speeding on the roads and cut road deaths.

An Garda Siochána revealed it is to launch an initiative that will target tinted windows which might impair driver vision, and it will also look at taking noisy cars off the roads, including the possibility of bringing drivers before the courts.

The measures were unveiled in advance of the August Bank Holiday weekend, typically a bad time for road deaths among younger drivers.

Assistant Garda Commissioner Eddie Rock confirmed the force is currently buying noise detectors which will be provided to every Garda division.

It will mean that cars can be pulled in and have their noise levels checked and, if they do not comply with requests to limit the noise from their vehicles, they could face being brought before the courts.

Blackened or tinted windows will also become the focus of Garda initiatives, with Asst Commissioner Rock claiming that the windows were “all part of the boy racer buzz”.

A tendering process for equipment to test the level of tint in windows, and also for the noise detectors, will begin shortly, he said.

European regulations exist regarding tinted or blackened windows, and it is possible the new measures affecting window tint and car noise could be operational by the end of the year.

Meetings with local authorities and community groups are also likely as part of plans to reduce poor road behaviour by younger drivers. Local authorities will also be consulted over the possibility of more explicit signage regarding roads that have a high incidence of road collisions or that are likely to be targeted for enforcement by gardaí.

New figures released by the Road Safety Authority yesterday showed that 67% of female passengers killed in 10 years between 1998 and 2007 were being driven by a male driver. Men are the drivers in 80% of fatal road crashes in Ireland.

A new He Drives, She Dies campaign, aimed at younger drivers, has already begun on radio and will continue to be broadcast in the run-up to the August Bank Holiday weekend.

It aims to convince passengers to ask drivers to slow down if they believe they are driving too fast.

Figures released earlier this month showed that a total of 127 people lost their lives on the country’s roads in the first six months of this year, a significant proportion of whom were aged in the 16-30 year age bracket.