Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The evidence from the RSA shows that more than a small minority of people are speeding. Unfortunately, that is the case. We know that excessive speed continues to be a leading contributory factor in fatal and serious injury collisions in Ireland. Reducing speed has been fundamentally proven to significantly reduce the risk of death or serious injuries in road collisions. The WHO has estimated that a 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% reduction in fatal collisions. Furthermore, the evidence shows that 50% of pedestrians struck by a vehicle at 60 km/h would be killed, compared to 29% struck at 50 km/h and 5% struck by a vehicle travelling at 30 km/h. Regarding the speed limit review, we have to change the default speed limits in primary legislation and then the matter will be devolved to local authorities with guidance to implement that in a sequenced manner. It will be for local authorities to take action and to ensure that we have safer speed limits on our roads.

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