The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has welcomed the news that An Garda Síochána has instructed all uniformed Gardaí to do a mandatory 30 minutes of road safety policing per shift.
The move comes against a backdrop of rising fatalities on Irish roads. There have been 63 fatalities on Irish roads this year, an increase of 15 on 2023.
Liz O’Donnell, chairperson of the RSA, said: “Enforcement is key to tackling this problem and I warmly welcome this response to my call for more Gardaí deployed immediately to road safety. This will result in increased Garda visibility on our roads and acts as a deterrent to dangerous drivers. This deployment can save lives.”
“Speeding and acceptability of speeding have been consistently high since 2020 and have yet to return to pre-Covid levels, while the social acceptability of drink-driving has also increased post-Covid. There needs to be a significant step change in order to get back to normal levels of compliance and I look forward to discussing these matters with An Taoiseach and senior ministers on Monday of next week.”
An Garda Síochána has also announced plans to increase by 75 the number of members allocated to its roads policing unit by the end of the year.
Working with An Garda Síochána, the Department of Transport and other key stakeholders, the RSA, through its education initiatives, research programmes and campaign initiatives, is at the forefront of efforts to tackle the problem.
In recent months the RSA has intensified its activities through increased high-impact campaigns; broadened its audience reach through new social media activities; rolled out road safety innovation initiatives; revised our education programme to reach more second level and college students; and delivered ground-breaking research that addresses key road safety issues.
