A driver travelling at 119km/h in a 50km/h zone in Dublin was among 676 motorists caught speeding today during a garda speed enforcement operation.
National Slowdown Day is taking place over a 24-hour period, running until midnight tonight, reports RTE.
The initiative forms the latest phase of an ongoing Christmas road safety campaign aimed at encouraging safer driving and cutting the number of road collisions.
Gardaà said that earlier today a motorist was recorded driving at almost 120km/h on the Drummartin Link Road in Sandyford, Dublin, where the speed limit is 50km/h, reports RTE.
Another driver was clocked at 139km/h in a 60km/h zone on the Dublin Road in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, while a further motorist was detected travelling at 120km/h in an 80km/h zone on the N52 in Mounthenry, Birr, Co Offaly.
These figures emerged on what was expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the Christmas season, with gardaà urging motorists to slow down and remain aware of other road users, reports RTE.
Drivers were advised to adhere to speed limits at all times and to exercise extra caution due to the increased number of people undertaking long-distance journeys.
To date this year, 184 people have been killed on roads across Ireland, reports RTE.
Superintendent Liam Geraghty said the number of fatalities recorded this year is concerning and deeply disappointing.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said: “I suppose 2025 is already the most dangerous year on record for probably 10 years, reports RTE.
“In 2023, we had 182 fatalities in our road, which was the last highest, and we’ve now gone past that already with certainly a week yet to go of a week when there is an awful lot of additional travel takes place in our roads as people head home for Christmas, travel to socialise over the Christmas period and meet family and friends.
“So, it is a very, very concerning and very, very worrying trend in the last year or two.”
He said An Garda SÃochána enforces speed limits daily throughout the year in partnership with GoSafe, reports RTE.
“There’s certainly in excess of 175,000 fixed-charge notices that have been issued for speeding so far this year.
“And again, that’s not something that people talk about too much.
“They’ll talk about when they don’t see a speed check, but they don’t tell you when they’ve actually got penalty points or got a fixed-charge notice for speeding, because that’s not something to be proud of or to brag about.
“Our national slowdown days are key days when we actually try to create a conversation around speeding, and that’s the aim … because it is something that we do need to talk about all the time.
“We do need to talk to our partners, our families, sons, daughters, whoever it may be.
“If you know somebody that tends to speed, you need to call them out and you need to ask them to slow down.
“We need to have those conversations now with people while they’re still alive.
“There’s no point in talking about it when they’ve added to the number of fatalities on our roads”, he said, reports RTE.
Regarding a rise in drug-driving detections, he said the trend is also a cause for concern.
“The numbers of people caught driving while under the influence of intoxicants continues to increase week on week during this campaign.
“Last week alone, 170. So far in December this year, 444 drivers have been arrested under the influence of intoxicants with about 44, 45% of those primarily being under the intoxicant of some sort of a drug.
“And again, yes, that is concerning.
“So, the message may be getting across a little bit around the alcohol and not driving under the influence of alcohol.
“But drugs have the same impact on your body. Drugs actually impact on your body and your system for a longer period of time and take longer to wear off than alcohol does.
“So, people need to be aware that, first of all, they should not be taking illegal drugs in the 1st place because that actually feeds into the whole organised crime and funding organised crime activity and issues like that.
“But they also put themselves at danger, put anybody else they have in the car with them at danger and also put other road users at danger as well”, reports RTE.
Supt Geraghty said that as part of the Christmas road safety campaign, more than 5,500 checkpoints have been carried out nationwide so far this month.
“And again, people will very, very quickly say, oh, well, I haven’t come across a checkpoint or haven’t seen a speed checkpoint.
“But the reality is those 444 drivers so far this December who have been arrested for driving while intoxicated, the chances are they have told very, very few people that they were arrested.
“Again, it’s not something to be proud of. They’re facing court cases.
“So, An Garda SÃochána are out in strength.
“We will be on the roads again today as part of the National Slowdown Day with our partners in GoSafe enforcing speed limits.
“And I suppose while we would understand and appreciate, the vast majority of drivers are actually very, very compliant and do a really, really good job in trying to keep our roads safe.
“But there is a significant cohort of drivers out there who, as we have already said, do not listen.
“Do not think it’s going to happen to them. A, that they will be stopped by and maybe prosecuted. But more concerningly, do not think that they’re going to be the one that may be involved in that serious injury road traffic collision or that fatal road traffic collision.
“Nobody’s getting up this morning to go out and get involved in a fatal road traffic collision, but they do happen and everybody needs to take care on our roads this Christmas”, he said, reports RTE.
He added that vulnerable road users must be given adequate space and respect on the roads.
Mr Waide also said distracted driving is a contributing factor to serious injuries and deaths.
He said there is no justification for using a mobile phone while driving and urged motorists to keep their phones put away while behind the wheel, reports RTE.
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