Hundreds caught speeding on National Slow Down Day

Gardaí have released the figures for motorists that were driving above the speed limit, despite it being National Slow Down Day. 

National Slow Down Day took place between 7am on Monday September 2, 2024 and 7am on Tuesday September 3, 2024.

The aim of National Slow Down Day is to “remind motorists of the dangers of speeding, to increase overall compliance with speed limits in place nationwide and to deter those that are intent on driving at excessive or inappropriate speed”.

Between 7am and 9pm last night, GoSafe revealed they checked the speeds of 130,529 vehicles on roads across the county. 

Of these vehicles, 229 were detected to be travelling in excess of the applicable speed limit.

On top of these GoSafe figures, Gardaí detected a shocking additional 269 vehicles travelling in excess of the applicable speed limit during the same timeframe.

Examples of the high speeds detected include, 90km/h in a 60km/h Zone on the N20 Baltydaniel West Mallow Cork, 141km/h in a 100km/h Zone on the N4 Greatdown The Downs Westmeath and 140km/h in a 100km/h Zone on the N3 Drumbarlom Belturbet Cavan.

An Garda Síochána have stated they “would like to thank drivers for their compliance during ‘National Slow Down Day’, making Irish roads safer for all road users”.

The Gardaí are continuing to appeal to drivers to comply with speed limits in order to reduce the number of speed related collisions, reduce injuries on Irish roads and save lives. 

Last year, there was an increase in fatal road traffic collisions with a total of 184 people tragically losing their lives in 173 fatal collisions. This compares to 154 deaths in 149 collisions in 2022 – a 19% increase on the previous year.