National highest speeding case detected in east Cork

The single highest case of speeding detected by An Garda Síochána in their National Slow Down Day occurred in east Cork yesterday.

In total, gardaí and GoSafe recorded 755 detections for speeding during the day, which ran from 7am on Friday through to 7am this morning.

During the 24 hours of National Slow Down Day, GoSafe checked the speeds of 163,146 vehicles, and detected 225 vehicles travelling in excess of the applicable speed limit.

At the same time, gardaí conducting high-visibility speed checks across the country intercepted 530 vehicles travelling in excess of the speed limit, bringing the total number of speed detections between 7am on Friday and 7am on Saturday to 755.

One motorist was detected travelling at 194km per hour in a 100km per hour zone on the N25 at Loughaderry, outside Castlemartyr in east Cork yesterday afternoon, in the single highest case of speeding recorded over the 24-hour period.

On Friday morning in Charleville, a driver was detected travelling at 112km per hour in a 50km per hour Zone on Main Street, a thoroughfare notorious for heavy volumes of traffic.

Separately, a driver was recorded travelling at 132km per hour in a 100km per hour zone on the N13 at Teevickmoy, Stranorlar, Donegal.

Another driver was detected travelling at 127km per hour in a 100km per hour zone on the N13 at Listellian, Letterkenny, Donegal.

In Annamarran, Carrickmacross, Monaghan, a driver was recorded travelling at 127km per hour in a 100km per hour zone.

So far this year, 63 people have died on the roads in Ireland, which is up by 14 on the number of lives lost in the same period last year.

Speaking to The Echo yesterday, Inspector Fergal O’Donovan of the Cork County Roads Policing Unit said a societal change was needed in attitudes toward driving and road safety.

“We’ve got to choose road safety over risk. All of us. Every driver.

“Every road user out there has to choose road safety over risk and we can do that by slowing down, reducing your speed, not using our mobile phone while we’re driving, wearing our safety belts and not drink driving and drug driving,” Insp O’Donovan said.

The aim of National Slow Down Day, which was supported by the Road Safety Authority (RSA), was to promote safer driving practices among motorists, and to encourage all of society to work with gardaí to help prevent road traffic collisions and to ultimately keep communities safe.

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