The Road Safety Authority (RSA) welcomed the announcement by An Garda Síochána that 87 new gardaí have been appointed to Roads Policing Units.
Chief executive Moyagh Murdock said, “The allocation is the first increase in Garda numbers deployed to front line road safety enforcement since 2010. Progress was made in reducing deaths in 2017 but it is vital that road safety is given the necessary prioritisation by the Garda Commissioner, to ensure that the improvement can be continued in 2018 and beyond.
“The increase in garda personnel assigned to roads policing duties was initially called out in the Garda Policing Plan 2017, which committed to an increase of 10% to the then number of 681 gardaí, and is one of the main actions identified in the recent Mid Term Review of the Government Road Safety Strategy 2013 to 2020,” she said.
“This action requires a 10% year on year increase in numbers up to 2020, which should bring total garda numbers assigned to roads policing to 997. It also called for the targeted deployment of these resources to be informed by research to enable the enforcement of key elements of the upcoming new road traffic legislation, which will focus on drink driving and unaccompanied learner drivers.’ concluded Ms Murdock.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.