The Government’s Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 seeks to improve road safety in Ireland and make our roads safer, for all road users. The Strategy focuses on achieving Vision Zero, zero road deaths or serious injuries by 2050.
After many successful years bringing road deaths down, there has been an increase in fatalities and serious injuries more recently.
In the period between 2006 and 2021, there was a strong downwards trend in the number of fatalities on our roads – falling from 365 fatalities in 2006 to 132 in 2021, which was our safest year on record.
This was followed by two successive years of increase where fatalities rose from 132 in 2021 to 180 in 2023 (+36%). While initial reports for 2024 show a small decline in fatalities compared to 2023, the recent trend has raised concerns about reaching Government Road Safety targets.
Every single death is a tragedy for the victims’ families, friends and community. Serious injuries can also have a life changing impact on the individual and their families.
Road safety is a key priority for Government, and reducing speed limits aims to curb this trend and bring down the number of fatalities and serious injuries on Irish roads.
Speed limits are being reduced on many Irish roads in 2025.
The first of these changes will come into effect on Friday the 7th of February 2025, when default speed limits on rural local roads will decrease from 80km/h to 60km/h. New speed limit signs will replace existing ones to reflect this change. The meaning of the Rural Speed Limit sign (a white circle with three diagonal black lines) will change from 80km/h to 60km/h as well.
Later in 2025, the speed limit in urban cores, which include built up areas as well as housing estates and town centres, will reduce to 30km/h. The speed limit on national secondary roads will also reduce from 100km/h to 80km/h.
Introducing more consistent and appropriate speed limits will help to improve road safety in Ireland.
These changes are being made under the Road Traffic Act 2024. The Act follows a number of key recommendations from the Speed Limit Review, which was undertaken by the Department in 2023.
The Speed Limit Review 2023 fulfils a Programme for Government commitment and an action included in the Government’s Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 .
The Review was overseen by a working group co-chaired by the Department of Transport and the Road Safety Authority and included representatives from An Garda Síochána, the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, and the City & County Management Association.
Based on modelling and research on international practice, the Review recommends the lowering of speed limits on urban, local and national secondary roads.
Recommendations from the Review have been incorporated into the Road Traffic Act 2024, which provides the legislative basis for the upcoming changes to default speed limits.
For more information on the Speed Limit Review, visit gov.ie - Speed Limit Review
Ireland's Government Road Safety Strategy follows the Safe System approach to road safety management. The Safe System approach aims to reduce the likelihood of a collision occurring and, if one does occur, to ensure that the road users involved will not be killed or seriously injured.
The Safe System approach has been recognised as international best practice and key to reducing the number of road deaths and serious injuries.
Safe Speeds are central to the Safe System approach. The aim is to reduce speeds to safe, appropriate levels for the roads being used, and the people using them. This is because the human body is vulnerable to collisions at high speeds, even when travelling in a motor vehicle. Cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists are even more vulnerable, and at even lower speeds.
Most unprotected road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, only survive collisions when vehicles are traveling at 30 km/h or less. A modern car can protect occupants up to 50 km/h in a side collision and a safe car can protect occupants up to 70 km/h in a head on collision. The risk of being killed or seriously injured is much higher for collisions at higher speeds.
In Ireland almost three in four road deaths (73%) in 2020-2024 occurred on a rural road with a speed limit of 80km/h or greater. Almost half (47%) of all serious injuries occurred on these roads.