Gardaí will begin the first of six special operations tomorrow and Thursday to target lorries and single-deck buses exceeding the speed limit.
Operation Go Cúramach is aimed at highlighting excess and inappropriate speed, which the Garda said is “at the core of the road safety problem”. Five more such operations will be conducted throughout the year.
The Garda today highlighted a survey for the Road Safety Authority (RSA) in 2006 that found some 78 per cent of rigid vehicles, 65 per cent of articulated vehicles and 66 per cent of single-deck buses exceeded the speed limit on national roads in urban areas.
That survey also showed 58 per cent of articulated vehicles were exceeding the 80 km/h speed limit that applies to them on national secondary roads. Some 87 per cent exceeded it on national primary roads and 69 per cent were above the limit on dual carriageways.
Assistant Commissioner Eddie Rock, the head of the Garda Traffic Corps, said the operation was not quota-driven or aimed at raising revenue through speeding fines.
"We're announcing it in advance because we want people to slow down," he said. "Some of the fatal crashes we've seen in recent times have involved very high speeds and we're trying to get drivers to moderate their driving habits and take more care."
Gardaí said enforcement will be concentrated on the national primary, national secondary and dual carriageways "where there is known to be a propensity for speed related collisions".
The Government's Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012sets a target level of compliance with speed limits for goods vehicles and single deck buses by 2012.
It also seeks an increase in the compliance of articulated vehicles with speed limits on urban national roads from 33 per cent to 70 per cent or better, and to increase the compliance of rigid vehicles on the same roads from 23 per cent to 70 per cent or better.
