Glasson driver caught doing jaw-dropping speed
Gardaí have revealed that a speeding motorist was caught doing more than twice the speed limit on a County Westmeath road in recent months.
During the period from January to October 2019, a driver was detected doing a speed of 189 km/h in an 80 km/h zone on the N55 at Auburn, Glasson.
The incident came to light as An Garda Síochána launched National 'Slow Down' Day, a 24-hour road speed safety initiative which will run from 7am tomorrow (Friday October 18) until 7am Saturday morning.
The excessive speeding at Glasson was one of five instances highlighted by Gardaí as they launched the initiative. The fastest speed was on the N15 at Ballymagrorty Scotch in County Donegal where a motorist was detected doing 223 km/h in a 100 km/h zone, while the others took place in counties Tipperary, Limerick and Clare.
The aim of 'Slow Down' Day is to remind drivers of the dangers of speeding, increase compliance with speed limits, and act as a deterrent to driving at excessive or inappropriate speed. The overall objective is to reduce the number of speed-related collisions and to save lives on our roads.
Tomorrow's operation will consist of high visibility speed enforcement in more than 1,000 speed enforcement zones.
According to Chief Superintendent Paul Cleary of the Roads Policing Bureau, it comes at an appropriate time; as of October 16, there have been 117 road fatalities, an increase of five on this date last year.
“Roads deaths are significantly higher than this period last year and with the darker, wetter weather approaching, vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists will be at higher risk over the coming months,” said Supt Cleary.
“Lowering speed is crucial for reducing injuries in the event of a collision and keeps everyone in the community safer. Please check your speed and support Slow Down Day, not only on the day, but every day.
"Whilst most drivers abide by the speed limits, there has been an increase of 15% in detections to date in 2019 compared to 2018. It is also very disappointing to see some drivers detected driving considerably over the speed limit.”
2018 saw the lowest number of road deaths on record; however Gardaí say this is still “142 road deaths too many”.
“We can never be complacent about road safety. Excessive and inappropriate speed is a contributory factor in approximately one third of fatal road traffic collisions. The higher the speed, the greater the likelihood is of a collision happening and the more severe the outcome of that collision.”