New speed limits need to mean something

This Friday, February 7, the speed limit on many rural local roads will change from 80 kilometres per hour to 60 kilometres per hour. A ‘Slower Speeds, Safer Roads’ campaign will run on radio, online, in print, and in ‘out of home’ locations to increase awareness of this change.

The primary aim of the campaign is to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50 per cent by 2030. In all, 174 people died in 160 fatal collisions in 2024 compared to 181 deaths in 170 collisions in 2023.

International research indicates that speed is a contributory factor in a third of fatal collisions, and that reducing speed significantly reduces road deaths.

The Speed Limit Review was presented to Government and published in September 2023. The final report concluded that protecting vulnerable road users must be a key focus when setting speed limits. For example, the risk of being killed is much greater for collisions between a car and a vulnerable road user at 50 km/h, when compared with the same type of collision at 30 km/h.

Amendments to the default speed limits on rural, local roads, urban roads and national secondary roads are being introduced. The change in default speed limits for rural local roads, from 80km/h to 60km/h, will be implemented first, starting on Friday.

Future implementation phases will focus on the speed limit in urban cores, which include built up areas as well as housing estates and town centres, reducing to 30 km/h. The speed limit on national secondary roads is recommended to reduce from 100km/h to 80km/h.

Countries across Europe including France and the UK have lowered speed limits on certain road types in recent years. Subsequent research has indicated that reducing speed limits contributed to a 10% reduction in road fatalities in France and contributed to a reduction in insurance costs in the UK.

Local authorities have received grants to change speed limit signs from ‘80’ to ‘60’ on relevant local roads. These are due to be in place on February 7, so road users can see clearly which limit applies. The striped ‘rural speed limit sign’, which is used as an alternative to numeric speed limit signs on specific single lane rural roads, will also now mean that a maximum 60km/h limit is in force.

Any reduction in the default speed limit from 80 to 60km/h on local rural roads - which can be narrow and winding, with limited visibility, and where sadly many collisions happen - is a step in the right direction towards tackling the unfortunate increase in fatalities and serious injuries we have seen in recent years.

The introduction of the new speed limits come in the same week a young man lost his life in a single vehicle crash in Oldcastle.

Revising the limits is one thing but unless they are observed by road users, and policed and enforced by gardaí, it could prove a pointless exercise.

All these road safety measures have to mean something. We have to urgently reduce the amount of fatalities and serious injuries on our roads and spare families the horror of that knock on the door by members of An Garda Síochána.