The Road Traffic Act 2004 established maximum default speed limits that apply to defined categories of roads. These limits may, however, be amended by the Elected Members of local authorities by means of Special Speed Limit Orders. Section 9 of the 2004 Act sets out the range of special speed limits, including a limit of 30km/h, available to local authorities for that purpose. In October last year, I instructed my officials to issue a Circular (RSD 01/2014) to all local authorities asking them to review the speed limits in place in residential and local housing estates in their area to determine whether or not appropriate speed limits and signage are in place, especially where children are at play.
In particular, the Circular asked that consideration be given to reducing speed limits in housing estates to 30km/h and I have made €2 million of additional funding available to local authorities in the current year to assist with such measures. This funding will be allocated to local authorities as they submit proposals to implement the lower speed limit and introduce new measures.
I have also committed to make provision in legislation for the application of a 20 km/h special speed limit. This will be addressed in the Road Traffic Bill 2015 and I sent the General Scheme of this Bill to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications last week.
I am aware of the Quiet Lanes initiative in the UK which I understand is intended to make selected country lanes more attractive for such pursuits as walking, cycling and horse riding rather than specifically tackling safety problems on a particular stretch of road. I also understand that this initiative aims for a maximum 85 percentile speed of 35 miles per hour, that is 56 km/h, whereas the initiative which I launched last year is for a lower maximum limit of 30 km/h and is intended as a substantial step forward in improving safety for pedestrians, and particularly children, in housing areas.
