RSA Welcomes Speed Cameras Roll Out

The Road Safety Authority is welcoming the roll-out of a network of privatised speed cameras across the country.

The 45 mobile units will be placed across the country in a bid to cut deaths on the nation's roads.

However, responding to criticism over the use of such cameras, head of the Road Safety Authority Noel Brett said it is not a money-generating exercise.

Speaking at the signing of the speed camera contract in Garda College, Templemore today Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said the new cameras were "an important step in our work to reduce death and serious injury on our roads and enhance overall road safety for all road users."

"Inappropriate speed is the single greatest contributory factor in road deaths and serious injuries. In recent years, we have worked to identify those roads which have the greatest propensity for speed related collisions and this is where we direct our enforcement activity. The signing of this contract today enables us to supplement existing enforcement and ensure the deployment of enforcement technology to even more areas where it can have even greater impact," the commssioner said.

Up to 157 people have been killed and 310 injured as a result of speeding in the past three years.

The commissioner added that deployment would be directed at those areas and times where it can have the greatest benefit in terms of the reduction of death and serious injury.

To achieve this, the cameras will be targeting more speed checks at weekends than on weekdays, more speed checks between midnight and 3.00am than at other times, motorways and dual carriageways will have less than 3% of speed checks, a spread of 50% between speed checks on national roads and 50% on non-national roads and 15-20% of speed checks on heavy goods vehicles.

(DW/KMcA)