Gardaí announce extra 'mobile safety camera monitoring hours' to curb rise in road deaths

Eight Garda divisions collectively account for 67% of all road deaths in 2023, two of which are in Cork. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Gardaí have announced 4,265 additional mobile safety camera monitoring hours until the end of 2023 as road fatalities in Ireland rise. 

Since the beginning of the year, there have been 129 fatalities on Irish roads — 25 more than the total reported by this point last year, and 37 more than in 2019.

Gardaí said they will focus the increased deployment of mobile safety cameras on a risk basis and in the seven Garda divisions where there is a higher risk of fatal road traffic collisions occurring.

Eight Garda divisions collectively account for 67% of all road deaths in 2023, two of which are in Cork. The eight divisions are: 

• Clare/Tipperary (19 road deaths) 
• Mayo/Roscommon/Longford (16) 
• Meath/Westmeath (12) 
• Galway (12) 
• Kildare/Laois/Offaly (10) 
• Cavan/Monaghan (9) 
• Cork North (6) 
• Cork West (2)

The increased deployment follows an announcement earlier this week by Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris that an additional €1.2m is to be allocated towards increasing the presence of Mobile Safety cameras.

These increased measures are necessary to combat the rising number of lives lost on Irish roads. To date, 129 people have been killed on our roads this year with 65% of all fatal collisions involving a single vehicle.

Figures show that 30% of fatal collisions this year occurred as a result of speeding, with 75% of all fatal collisions taking place when the driver was between 80kmph and 100kmph.

The purpose of the mobile safety cameras in high-visibility vehicles is to allow road users the opportunity to change their behaviour, reducing the risk of fatal road traffic accidents.

Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman, Roads Policing and Community Engagement, said the cameras are deployed at “identified stretches of road with a known traffic collision history”.

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“Mobile safety cameras are designed to change driver behaviour in these high-risk stretches of road. The additional hours are being targeted within the areas where the highest proportion of fatal road collisions are taking place,” she added.

Asst Comm. Hilman described the various steps taken by gardaí to reduce the number of fatalities, saying: “Last Monday, on National Slow Down Day, over 865 drivers were detected driving in excess of the speed limit. 

"Each individual driver has a responsibility to slow down and not just drive within the speed limit but to the appropriate speed for the road, weather, traffic and vehicle conditions. An Garda Síochána will continue to prioritise our response to the very alarming trend in increase in fatalities on our roads,” she said.

The additional monitoring hours comes as speed limits across national, local and arterial roads are to be cut significantly under a major overhaul.

Motorists will have to reduce their speed by 20km/h on many roads across the country under the new limits, which will see the maximum speed allowed on national secondary roads drop from 100km/h to 80km/h.

The default speed limit on the country's network of local and rural roads will also be cut, going from the current 80km/h to 60km/h.