A need for speed in glasson

Two local motorists made the headlines for all the wrong reasons during a recent Garda speed clampdown campaign, clocking in at almost 50km over the speed limits.

Last Friday was designated Operation Slow Down by An Garda Síochána who conducted an intensive national speed enforcement operation for 24 hours from early morning until 7am Saturday.

During that period, incredibly one driver was detected driving at 148 km an hour in a 100 km zone on the N55 Ballymahon road near Glasson, a narrow, winding stretch that has been the site of previous accidents amid calls over many years for improvements.

Meanwhile, another car was caught speeding at 144km an hour on the N6 at Clonbrusk, Athlone, well over the 100km an hour speed limit that applies there. Another notable local detection was a car stopped driving at 133 km an hour in a 100 zone on the R446 at Curragh, Aughrim, Ballinasloe.

Gardai said the objective of Operation Slow Down was to reduce the number of speed related collisions, save lives and reduce injuries on our roads. The aim is to get drivers to slow down by reminding them of the dangers of speeding, increasing compliance with speed limits and acting as a deterrent to driving at excessive and inappropriate speed.

Between 7am Friday and 7am Saturday, GoSafe (speed vans) checked the speed of 115,003 vehicles with 451 vehicles detected travelling in excess of the applicable speed limit. This is a compliance rate of 99.6% within the monitored zones.

Assistant Commissioner, John Twomey of the Garda National Traffic Bureau/Dublin Metropolitan Region commented: “An Garda Síochána wish to thank the many individuals and organisations who heeded the National Slow Down Day and supported the campaign by sending their photographs to An Garda Síochána at #thumbsup”.