Almost 3,000 motorists in Ireland were caught speeding over the Easter weekend, with the figures triggering warnings that dangerous driving is now “off the scale”.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) fears non-compliance with road laws like speeding, mobile phone use and drink-driving has contributed to this year’s death toll of 61 already. That is 13 more than the same time last year, reports the Irish Mirror.
The RSA’s warning follows the exclusive publication of figures in the Irish Mirror four weeks ago to show that 30 per cent of road victims this year up to March 22 were in their teens or early 20s.
In September Highways News reported that Ireland’s Justice Minister Helen McEntee had travelled to Scotland to find out more about how average speed cameras have been successfully used to make roads safer.
RSA chairperson Liz O’Donnell appealed for harder penalties against law breakers and called for more average speed cameras to be rolled out as soon as possible. She claimed that dangerous driving has become more commonplace since the Covid-19 pandemic.
O’Donnell said: “For the last two years, since Covid, the level of non-compliance is just off the scale. People are not afraid of being caught so they are more willing to engage in dangerous behaviours.”
A RSA survey in January found that 10 per cent of drivers admitted driving after drinking alcohol in the last year.
O’Donnell added: “Over Easter alone, there were over 2,600 people detected for speeding. People are routinely speeding now.”
Newly appointed Taoiseach Simon Harris has already vowed that road safety will be “a priority issue” for him.
