Vol. 498 No. 6
137 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the consideration, if any, he has given to reducing the speed limit to 50 miles per hour on all secondary and rural roads during winter hours with a view to keeping speed down and thereby reducing road accidents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28185/98]
The present speed limit regime in Ireland arises from a comprehensive review of speed limits carried out between 1990 and 1992 as well as new arrangements for the application of limits introduced by the Road Traffic Act, 1994. The Government strategy for road safety, 1998-2002, makes clear that changes to this regime are not proposed in the short term: the immediate-term priority is to secure a much higher level of compliance with existing speed limits.
It is open to county councils and county borough corporations to exercise their powers under the Road Traffic Acts to apply the special speed limit of 50 miles per hour to specified roads in their areas, subject to consultation with the Garda Commissioner and other local authorities in the area, and, in the case of national roads, subject to the consent of the National Roads Authority There appears to be limited international experience of seasonally differentiated speed limits and I have no proposal for such limits.
