The Road Safety Authority (RSA) held its third international conference on road safety at Dublin Castle recently. The theme of the conference was speeding as the RSA, An Garda Síochána and other stakeholders work towards the roll-out of the safety camera network later this year.

Research presented by the RSA at the conference, showed that speeding was directly responsible for 80 deaths on Irish roads last year. It is also a factor in the remaining 160 deaths, 1,000 serious injuries and anything up to 7,000 minor injuries. The research also revealed that reducing speed by just 5% could save up to 50 lives every year. Furthermore, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) said speed could be responsible for as many as 11,000 deaths in the EU every year.

Superintendent Con O’Donohue, An Garda Síochána, who spoke at the conference, outlined the upcoming safety camera strategy: “We have seen how effective safety camera networks are in other EU countries at reducing overall speed on the road and protecting road-users. In Ireland, enforcement will be focused on speed enforcement zones on the road network, which have a history of speed related death and injury. It’s important to note that the operator will be paid on the basis of the number of hours spent enforcing speed limits and not on the basis of detections. This is about saving lives and preventing injuries, not about catching people.”