Gardaí to launch new motorway speed camera in Tipperary

Any vehicles caught by the mainline Motorway Average Speed Safety Camera system will get an €80 fine along with three penalty points

The camera will operate along a section of the M7 from next Monday. File Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Ireland's first mainline speed camera, which monitors vehicle speeds along a particular stretch of road as opposed to past a fixed point, will be launched in Tipperary next week.

The mainline Motorway Average Speed Safety Camera system will be in place in both directions of the M7 between Junction 26 Nenagh West and Junction 27 Birdhill, from 7am next Monday, April 25.

The system monitors a driver’s average speed while driving through two points.

A garda spokesperson said vehicles detected "driving in excess of the 120km/h posted motorway speed limit will be subject to prosecution" from that time on. 

Any vehicles which are caught by the camera will be prosecuted via a Fixed Charge Notice - an €80 fine along with three penalty points.

The system is identical to the one in operation in Dublin's Port Tunnel since 2017. When unveiling the scheme a year ago, transport chiefs said the introduction of average speed cameras in the tunnel had cut the number of speeding incidents by 80%.

The spokesperson said that no prosecutions have taken place since the pilot scheme of the mainline camera was introduced.

"Prior to the installation of the Motorway Average Speed Safety Camera system compliance with the 120km/h motorway speed limit was below 70%.

"During the periods of the testing pilot scheme compliance levels have risen, but remain below 90%," the spokesperson said. 

According to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) speeding is typical of driver behaviour along "low-traffic volume sections of the motorway network throughout the country."

TII says the danger of driving in such a manner is compounded during rain or hail showers "increasing the potential for serious accidents."

The specific locations which the mainline camera system will monitor were chosen because they have seen frequent hail and other such weather-related events in the past, resulting in increased collision frequency in the area.