Gardaí have warned people to drive “appropriately” within the speed limit on rural roads, as the country enters a busy bank holiday weekend.
Head of the Roads Policing Unit in Co. Meath and Co. Westmeath, inspector Peter Gilsenan told Agriland that while some smaller roads have a speed limit of 80km/h, the routes may have multiple bends and require a slower speed.
Gilsenan added that August is “a very busy month for farmers”, with a lot of machinery on the roads.
“In the farming industry, like every other industry, production has increased, machinery has increased, everything has increased, and the size of machinery has, but our roads haven’t,” Gilsenan said.
He said that farmers should “realise” the size of the machine and the size of the road in order to “drive accordingly”, while avoiding distraction.
He added other road users should also be “conscious” of the increase in machinery at this time on the year.
Since 7:00a.m yesterday morning (Thursday, August 1), gardaí have been detecting “poor driving behaviours”, such as driving above the speed limit.
So far, almost 85,000 vehicles have been checked for speeding. Over 200 drivers have already been detected.
There has been a particular focus on “distraction driving”, such as mobile phone use.
Gilsenan said that the detection of drivers using their mobile phones while driving has increased by 8% this year.
The highest rate of handheld mobile device usage was seen by drivers of light goods vehicles at 13%, with rates ranging from between 6% and 8% amongst drivers of other vehicle types.
Rural roads
The statistics come as there has been 113 road deaths so far in 2024, with 70% of accidents happening on rural roads.
Minister of State at the Department of Transport, James Lawless said that there has been a “worrying trend” in the last month, with five road deaths happening just last weekend.
Changes to the speed limits on rural and local roads are set to come into effect from November 2024.
Default speed limits are set for all roads by the Road Traffic Acts, with the change on the default limit on rural, local roads from 80km/h to 60km/h being legislated for by the Road Traffic Act 2024.
“The statistics show that if you’re in a collision at 30km/h, you probably will survive, if you’re in one at 50, you’re in trouble, if you are in one at 80, you’re dead. The higher the speed, the greater the chance of fatality,” Minister Lawless said.
While 60km/h will be the default speed for all rural roads around the country, Minister Lawless said that there will be a chance for local authorities who “know their roads best” to change the limits on certain roads.
Minister Lawless said that another “unexpected benefit” of the change will mean that GPS systems, such as Google Maps, will no longer send drivers down smaller roads.
Most GPS systems currently recommend routes which are highlighted as the quickest, but do not bear in mind the size of the roads, according to the minister.
Minister Lawless added that in order to improve the situation, he would like to see an increase in the amount of gardaí deployed for roads policing services.