REVEALED: Fewer than 0.5% of vehicles checked on Slow Down Day caught speeding

Fewer than half a percent of vehicles checked as part of National Slow Down Day were caught speeding. 

According to a Garda report posted on X (formerly Twitter), GoSafe checked the speed of 120,603 vehicles in the 24 hours of the operation beginning on November 15, with just 328 drivers caught speeding. 

This amounts to just 0.27%. 

This low figure is a stark contrast to the worrying increase in the number of road fatalities on Irish roads so far this year, with 168 people having lost their lives since January 1, 2023. 

The number of road deaths in the same month in 2022 was 133, when 35 fewer people lost their lives on Irish roads. 

Some of the speeds recorded as part of National Slow Down Day include 138km/h on the M6 in Co. Westmeath, 123km/h on the N25 in Co. Waterford, and 75km/h in a 50km/h zone on the N84 in Co. Galway. 

The aim of Slow Down Day is to remind drivers of the dangers of speeding, to increase compliance with speed limits and act as a deterrent to driving at excessive or inappropriate speed.

An Garda Síochána continues to appeal to drivers to comply with speed limits in order to reduce the number of speed related collisions, save lives and reduce injuries on our roads. 

Sixty drivers, 40 pedestrians, 33 passengers and 24 motorcyclists have died on the roads this year so far, as well as 4 e-scooter riders and 6 cyclists.