The Government today published the final report emerging from the Speed Limit Review.
The Speed Limit Review is intended to reduce inconsistency of speed limits on roads all over the country with the intention of making roads safer for all users. The report says the default speed limit on national secondary roads will be reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h, local and rural roads will have a limit of 60km/hour down from the present 80 and the default speed limit on urban roads, which includes built up areas as well as housing estates and town centres, will be 30km/h.
Arterial roads and radial routes around urban settings would be able to remain at 50km/h. There are no proposed changes to the default speed limits on motorways, national primary roads or regional roads. The framework allows for appropriate, upward variations where a road is deemed to be safe and good quality on assessment by local authorities.
Experts say reducing speed will significantly reduce the risk of death or serious injury in road collisions. The World Health Organisation has estimated that a 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% reduction in fatal collisions.
The Government plans to have the legislation to implement the changes approved by the end of March 2024 so that work on changing road signage and Garda Enforcement action etc. can commence next year.
In the year to date, there have been 130 deaths on Irish roads–an increase of 25 compared with the same time last year – 14 of these fatalities have been in county Tipperary.
