Tag Archives: road safety

AN Garda Síochána have issued an appeal for this Bank Holiday weekend urging road users to slow down and never drive under the influence. The Gardaí will be carrying out extensive patrols and checkpoints over the Bank Holiday weekend, as the weekend’s enforcement activities will specifically target and focus on off-peak hours (10pm to 6am) where recent studies have shown that 75% of fatalities were found to return positive toxicology results for alcohol. This October bank holiday weekend Gardaí will carry out high visibility patrols and checkpoints across the roads network and are appealing to motorists not to drive under the influence of an intoxicant and to reduce speed. Speaking at yesterday’s media briefing Chief Superintendent Paul Cleary said, “This bank holiday weekend we want to keep people safe on our roads. Gardaí will be out in force with high visibility patrols and checkpoints and we would be appealing to people not to drive under the influence of an intoxicant …

IMPROVEMENT works and safety measures are to be considered and put in place to slow down traffic at Kilkishen National School, after a petition was submitted to members of the Killaloe Municipal District. Councillor Alan O’Callaghan called on Clare County Council to carry out works at the school to slow traffic, in the interest of the health and safety of children. At last week’s meeting of the municipal district, a petition with approximately 80 signatures was handed in on behalf of locals who were confirming these concerns. Responding, Hugh McGrath, senior executive engineer, said, “It is accepted that there are safety concerns at this location relating to traffic in the vicinity of the school. We are to carry out improvement works to the road surface at this location in the coming months.” In advance of the works, Mr McGrath said the local authority will give consideration to any measures that may improve road safety at this location in consultation with …

Gardaí in Clare detected a motorist driving 52km/h above the speed limit along the N17. The car was found travelling at 152km/h in a 100km/h zone. Details of the speeding detection were released by An Garda Síochána, ahead of a national speed enforcement operation this weekend. The operation, known as Slow Down Day, is supported by the Road Safety Authority and other stakeholders, and will take place for a 24-hour period, from 7am on Friday to 7am on Saturday. The objective of the operation is to reduce the number of speed-related collisions, save lives and reduce injuries on our roads. The aim of Slow Down Day is to remind drivers of the dangers of speeding, increase compliance with speed limits and act as a deterrent to driving at excessive or inappropriate speed. In terms of road safety, 2017 was the lowest on record, with 157 road deaths. Excessive and inappropriate speed is a major contributory factor in road traffic collisions. …

Bishop Fintan Monahan has urged all road users to take extra care this October bank holiday weekend. After 12 noon mass on Sunday, he will lead a ‘Blessing of the Roads’ ceremony in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Ennis and offer prayers for the safety of all road users. Bishop Monahan has invited parishes in the Diocese of Killaloe to join with him in prayers over the weekend. Bishop Monahan said, “Statistics indicate that bank holiday weekends can be high risk times on our roads. I am aware that many county councils and civic groups and especially the Road Safety Authority, work very hard to promote safety on the roads. But the reality is that we all share this responsibility to protect human life on our roads. “Up to this morning (Friday) 125 people have died this year on roads across the State. While the trend is down from the 160 deaths this time last year, it …

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) have urged road users to take extra care, as the number of tractors, trailers and other farm machinery on the roads increases over the summer months. The appeal comes as many farmers around the country are in the middle of the silage cutting season. Ms Moyagh Murdock, chief rxecutive, RSA said, “This is a very busy time of year for farmers, with silage cutting already underway. The number of tractors and trailers out using the roads will increase dramatically. As a result the risk of a collision involving a road user and farm machinery has increased. As such I am asking all drivers to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other farm machinery exiting from fields and farm yards. If you are travelling behind farm machinery, please be patient and only over take when it’s safe to do so. We should all expect the unexpected, as …

Thousands of GAA fans travelling to Saturday’s All-Ireland Football qualifier in Cusack Park and Sunday’s Munster minor and senior Hurling Finals between Clare and Cork in Semple Stadium have been given a special ‘drive safely’ message. “We want people to drive safely this weekend. There will be a huge volume of traffic on the roads for the games, and we urge people to take care and to ensure that their trip to these great sporting occasions do not end in tragedy,” said Barry Keating, road safety officer, Clare County Council. He added, “We want all road users to change their behaviours and make these changes part of their lives in the future, which will save lives and reduce serious injuries on our roads. We are advising people to keep a safe distance between them and the car in front them and asking drivers not to use of the mobile phones while driving.” Distracted driving is one of the common causes …

Raising road safety awareness and reducing the number and severity of road traffic collisions on Clare’s roads is the objective of an event in the public car park at Glór, Ennis, next week. The roadshow will include a roll-over simulator demonstrating what it is like to be involved in a car crash, first hand accounts from emergency first responders and an interactive shuttle featuring driving, motorbike and bicycle simulators, reaction timers, Driver Theory Test computers, and screens showing road safety advertisements. Organised by the Clare Road Safety Action Group, comprising Clare County Council, An Garda Síochána, HSE, Road Safety Authority, Clare Civil Defence and Clare County Fire & Rescue Service, it is open to all. On Wednesday morning, hundreds of secondary school students will witness the full horror of a road crash at a simulation aimed at showing teenagers the human tragedy behind the statistics. The demonstration is targeted at young people who are about to embark on their driving careers or who …

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross has today (Wednesday) announced the commencement of the drug driving provisions in the Road Traffic Act 2016. One of the key measures in the legislation provides for preliminary drug testing, which will enable gardaí to test motorists whom they suspect of driving under the influence of drugs at the roadside. The new garda powers mean gardaí can now establish roadside checkpoints, mandatory impairment checkpoints (MIT), to test drivers for the presence of both alcohol and drugs. The new drug testing devices (Dräger DrugTest 5000) involve testing a sample of a driver’s saliva for the presence of cannabis, cocaine, opiates (e.g. heroin, morphine) and benzodiazepines (e.g. valium). The new devices will also be available in Garda stations. The MBRS has found that of the 3,020 specimens of blood and urine that it received in 2016, 24% confirmed positive for drugs other than alcohol. Of these, 91% were specimens from male drivers, most …