An Garda Siochana has instructed all uniformed gardaí to do a mandatory 30 minutes of road safety policing per shift.
The announcement was made today by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, in an effort to “keep people safe”.
Commissioner Harris said: “Despite our collective efforts to date, there continues to be an increase in fatalities on our roads. I recognise the impact of this on families and friends, whom have lost loved ones.
“I am conscious of the impact this places on members of An Garda Síochána involved in such tragic investigations.
“Therefore, with immediate effect, each regional assistant commissioner will utilise all uniform personnel, core and core and non-core, deploying them on high visibility roads policing operations, of 30 minutes’ duration in each tour of duty.
“Supervisors will ensure compliance with this direction, with the exception of where exigencies of the service arise,” Commissioner Harris added.
The announcement 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.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has welcomed this announcement, with the chair of the authority, Liz O’Donnell saying “enforcement is key to tackling this problem.
“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,” O’Donnell added.
Gardaí confirmed that in the first two months of 2024, there were:
- 6,418 FCNs (fixed charge notices) issued for speed offences with a further 14,835 issued by safety camera vans;
- 7,647 checkpoints;
- 878 arrests for drink driving offences and 488 arrests for drug driving offences;
- 3,129 FCN’s issued for driving while holding their mobile phone;
- 700 FCN’s issued for non-wearing of a seatbelt.
An Garda Siochana has also announced plans to increase the number of members allocated to its roads policing unit by the end of the year by 75.