See all Motoring AdviceThe places where new safety cameras can be deployed on Irish roads has massively increased as of February 19, 2020, following a review of which stretches of road need to be policed by An Garda Síochána. Here we talk you through what has changed.
How many roads were added during the review?
Following the review, 575 sections of road in the country were removed from the original total of 994 sites covered by safety-camera deployments, because these sections were no longer deemed as ‘high risk’. Data collated between 2016 and 2018 showed that these sections of roads had seen a change in driver habits, or traffic using other routes to avoid congestion.
However, a further 903 new sections of road were deemed high risk. These were areas that have a speed-related collision history, meaning that during the two-year sampling period there were accidents on these stretches where fatal, serious-injury and also minor-injury collisions occur.
As a result, the total number of stretches of road covered by the new speed-camera zones has increased to 1,322, a 33 per cent rise from the previous figure. The National Roads Policing Bureau said that it hopes the new speed zones will reduce the number of motorists who are travelling in excess of the speed limit, perhaps because they believe the stretch of road they are on to be ‘safe’.
Where are the new speed-camera zones?
With 1,322 stretches covered in total, it would be impractical for us to list the 903 additional areas of safety-camera coverage. Helpfully, though the Gardaí’s website has an interactive map with all the zones marked on it in black. You can then zoom into your local area and check which roads are covered. From the overall map, you’ll notice that there is blanket coverage from northern-most tip of Donegal to the western fringes of both Counties Cork and Kerry. Particular speed-camera focus is found in and around the cities and towns, with Dublin the most policed, followed by Cork, Limerick, Galway, Tralee and Drogheda.
Find the interactive speed-camera zone map right here: https://www.garda.ie/gosafe.html