Government focusing on road safety and calling on all road users to travel responsibly

The Government is calling on all road users to travel responsibly on our roads this June bank holiday weekend and, in particular, for drivers to slow down.

Road safety continues to be a Government priority. An Taoiseach Simon Harris chaired a meeting of the Ministerial Committee on Road Safety on 2 May, and asked key road safety partners to redouble their efforts to bring down the recent rising trend in road traffic collisions and fatalities that has continued into 2024.

As part of the Government’s response, Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers, who has responsibility for road safety, brought forward the Road Traffic Act 2024. This Act, which was signed into law by the President on 17 April, focuses on targeted and systemic change in three key areas linked to driver behaviour:

In response to the increase in drug-driving, the Act introduces mandatory drug testing of drivers at the scene of serious collisions, on the same basis as alcohol testing
To help tackle the issue of excessive speed, the Act legislates for safer default speed limits on urban, national secondary and rural, local roads
To enhance the deterrent effect of penalty points, the Act ensures that drivers committing multiple penalty point offences on the same occasion will receive multiple penalty points.

The provisions on mandatory drug testing are being commenced on 31 May ahead of the bank holiday weekend. In support of this change, the Department of Transport recently conveyed sanction to the Medical Bureau of Road Safety to purchase an additional 10,000 “Drugwipe” test kits this year. This should ensure that members of An Garda Síochána are adequately equipped to carry out increased numbers of roadside drug tests.

Speed limit changes will follow a statutory speed limit review process by each local authority. The first phase will see the default limit on rural, local roads change from 80km/h to 60km/h, with future phases to introduce changes on national secondary roads and urban roads. Local elected representatives will retain the delegated power to vary the speed limit from the default where appropriate. The Department of Transport has issued updated guidelines to assist local authorities in conducting their speed limit reviews.

Other important developments in road safety in recent weeks include:

The commencement of regulations related to e-scooters on 20 May, allowing for the legal use of permitted devices on public roads.
Significantly increased spending on media, education and public awareness campaigns by the Road Safety Authority since mid-April, with €3m in additional investment to be made.
Submission of a comprehensive proposal to resolve collision data sharing issues to the Data Protection Commission for consideration. It is hoped that the sharing of collision data with local authorities will be able to resume later this year. In the meantime, it is still possible to identify locations of interest for safety works on roads. In 2023, 55 locations of interest safety schemes were funded, and 60 schemes are being funded in 2024.
Preparation workshops on the new default speed limit on rural, local roads, to inform engineers from local authorities across the country of the coming change and help them prepare for their own speed limit reviews. Workshops were held in Mayo, Cork and Dublin this week.

An Taoiseach Simon Harris welcomed the progress since the last Ministerial Committee on Road Safety, saying:

“Bank Holidays are a huge relief for people across the country and the June bank holiday is a moment to celebrate summer for so many people. However, we have seen too many lives lost on our roads and the June bank holiday has in the past been a fatal one bringing devastation to too many families across Ireland. This bank holiday I’m urging drivers and all road users to think of their own safety and the safety of others out there. I welcome the start today of mandatory drug testing of drivers at the scene of serious collisions. It is important that momentum is maintained on priority actions to ensure we bring down the recent worrying trend in road fatalities. The Government is committed to taking all action necessary to reduce the number of people injured and killed on our roads. Each life lost is a terrible tragedy, every death is one too many.”

Work on the development of a comprehensive national strategy for the future rollout and expansion of safety cameras is also continuing, led by Transport Infrastructure Ireland. The Strategy will cover the use of safety cameras across national, regional and local roads, with the objective of saving lives by reducing unsafe driver behaviours that can be detected using existing and proven camera-based technologies. The Strategy will focus on speed, red light and bus lane cameras in the initial phase. It is being designed to allow for the enforcement of other violations in the future, such as mobile phone use and not wearing seat belts. The Strategy will be completed by the end of the year and is in addition to more immediate safety camera investment, with three new average speed camera zones and nine static cameras to be installed this year.

Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan said:

“As a Government, we are committed to using technology to improve road safety and complement the enforcement activities of members of An Garda Síochána. We know that safety cameras work. We have the evidence from other EU member states and, indeed, right here in Ireland where cameras have been deployed. What we need now is to scale up the current system. This strategy will help us to improve public transport and active travel, by helping to protect bus lanes and punishing those who break lights.”

Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee said:

“I urge everyone to drive carefully this bank holiday weekend, and to be mindful of your own safety and that of other road users.

“Improved technology will aid detection and enforcement which, as a part of a range of actions across government, should improve driver behaviour. We have introduced a number of measures including fixed cameras, average speed cameras, GoSafe vans or the insurance data app for Gardaí.

“These work alongside recent roads enforcement measures, including the Garda Commissioner’s commitment to 30 minutes of high visibility roads policing during every tour of duty, which has already resulted in increased detections for mobile phone use while driving, driving under the influence and a significant number of vehicles seized for no insurance.

“An Garda Síochána play a pivotal role in keeping all of those on our roads safe which is why this Government has committed to providing the funding needed to continue to ramp up Garda recruitment. Budget 2024 provides for more new Garda recruits, growing the force to 15,000 members, including the expansion of the roads policing unit.

“While An Garda Siochána is focusing its efforts on enforcement, it is important to recognise that a multi-faceted approach is necessary to reduce fatalities and collisions that cause serious injuries. Encouraging drivers to change poor behaviours will have a much greater impact on road safety.”

Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers, with responsibility for road safety, said:

“Everyone in Government is committed to reversing the really concerning trend we have seen in recent years and to reducing deaths on our roads. A number of important initiatives have been progressed already this year which will help to make our roads safer but there is more to do. Many proposals, including those from road safety advocates and experts, are being advanced by my Department, its agencies, or other stakeholders in the sector as we seek to reverse the trends we have seen in 2023 and the first half of 2024.”

A full progress report on road safety will be submitted to the Government following the next meeting of the Ministerial Committee on Road Safety, before the summer recess.

Note to Editors

The development of a national Road Safety Camera Strategy arises from the Actions 8 (expand the use of average speed cameras at high-risk locations) and 67 (to further develop camera-based enforcement) of the Phase 1 Action Plan underpinning Government’s Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030. Work is taking place under three coordinated workstreams, with the aim of promoting a culture of safety on Irish roads, making roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists, vulnerable road users and all road users. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is coordinating the Working Group overseeing the development of the Strategy, which includes representatives from the Department of Transport, Depart of Justice, An Garda Síochána, National Transport Authority, County and City Management Association, and Courts Service of Ireland.

The Strategy will cover the use of safety cameras across national, regional and local roads, with the objective of saving lives by reducing unsafe driver behaviours that can be detected using existing and proven camera-based technologies. The Strategy will focus on speed, red light and bus lane cameras in the initial phase, while also being designed to allow for the enforcement of other violations in the future, such as mobile phone use and not wearing seat belts. The Strategy will be completed by the end of this year.

A parallel task has commenced on the production of a Handbook for Site Selection for Safety Cameras. The Handbook will build on methodologies and lessons from the selection of sites for new average and fixed speed cameras. The Handbook will enable TII, An Garda Síochána and local authorities to adopt a consistent, evidence-based approach to select sites for safety cameras across the State.

TII currently operates two average speed cameras, located in the Dublin Tunnel and on the M7. An Garda Síochána, together with TII and local authorities, will deploy three additional average speed camera zones on single carriageway roads this year. The three locations, which were chosen based on the number of speed-related collisions observed, are:

N2, South of Slane

N3, Between Belturbet and Cavan Town

N5, Swinford Bypass, County Mayo

An Garda Síochána has also selected nine locations across the country for fixed speed cameras. These cameras, the locations of which were announced by An Garda Síochána on 1 May, will be installed on single carriageways on national and regional roads.

These average and fixed speed cameras are being deployed with the clear objective to save lives and make roads safer. International experience has shown that average speed cameras reduce collisions by 30% and the number of fatalities and serious injuries by 56% and that fixed speed cameras reduce collisions by 20% and the number of fatalities and serious injuries by 15%.

Information campaigns will be carried out locally and nationally ahead of the average and fixed speed cameras becoming operational.

Questions on speed cameras should be directed to An Garda Síochána, and questions on the Handbook and Strategy should be directed to TII.