Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2013
403. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans for enforcing speed limits in view of the clear disregard for speed limits on certain roads as evidenced on National Slow Down Day; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33477/13]
View answerThe Policing Priorities I have set for 2013 include an emphasis on continuing to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads and An Garda Síochána has my full support in this regard. The Deputy will appreciate that we have seen very positive sustained improvements in the attitudes and behaviour of all road users which underpinned another record year in terms of road safety in Ireland in 2012 and enforcement by the Garda authorities continues to focus on high risk behaviour, including speeding, and on identified vulnerable road users with the key objective of reducing the number of serious injury collisions and fatalities on our roads.
I can assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána is committed to working closely with all road safety agencies and continues to conduct further specific targeted visible enforcement initiatives, in addition to the recent Operation Slowdown and related enforcement activity, in areas where fatal and serious injury collisions are likely to occur. The introduction of the safety camera network has seen sustained improvements in driver behaviour across the speed enforcement zones, and earlier this year An Garda Síochána announced extensions to these zones, based on an analysis and speed and collision data. Awareness and education campaigns with a focus in speeding are also conducted as part of An Garda Síochána's ongoing commitment to work with all road safety partners and contribute fully to the effective implementation of the Road Safety Strategy 2013 - 2020.
