12,000 fewer drivers caught for speeding as road deaths soar

The offences were recorded as the death toll on our country’s roads rose sharply.

New garda figures show the status of the three lifesaver offences at the end of 2023, while the number of people killed in traffic collisions was the highest in nine years.

It comes as the Irish Independent has learned that gardaí are developing plans to place 100 static speed cameras on roads across the country.

The devices, which measure the time it has taken a vehicle to travel between two points, would be a major change in the battle against speeding.

They are currently only in place on two roadways – the M7 and the Port Tunnel – but plans are now under way to add similar cameras on the N2, N3 and the N5 later this year.

Assistant Commissioner with responsibility for Roads Policing Paula Hilman has been tasked with developing a business case for the introduction of 100 static speed cameras.

It will then be presented to the Department of Justice as part of their funding application for 2025.

The most recent figures for last year show that a total of 7,771 motorists were detained for driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

This is a drop of just over 3pc from the 8,105 arrests for the same offence the previous year.

In the first 11 months of last year 143,178 were caught speeding – down nearly 8pc from the figure of 155,307 during the same period in 2022. The data for the final month of the year has yet to be published.

But detections for people driving while using their mobile phones are expected to rise, with 17,954 caught in the first 11 months of 2023, compared with 17,587 in the same period the previous year. This is an increase of 2pc by the end of November.

The data for December has yet to be published.

Last year 188 people died on Irish roads, the highest yearly figure since 2014, while so far this year 70 people have lost their lives.

Speaking earlier this month, junior transport minister Jack Chambers, who has responsibility for road safety, said that factors such as drink and drug driving as well as speeding are leading to the surge in road deaths, which he described as a “crisis”.

While three locations have been decided for new static speed cameras, nine others for the devices will be confirmed in the coming months.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson said An Garda Síochána is investing in technology to support road safety, including devices to allow all gardaí to issue fixed-charge notices at the roadside.

A garda spokesperson said: “Such cameras have been proven in other countries to be highly effective in reducing speed, which is a key contributor to road deaths.

“The average speed cameras on the M7 and Port Tunnel have also proven effective in reducing speed.

“In addition, there has been investment in new hand-held speed-detection devices, drug-detection devices, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology, and roads policing vehicles.

“Following additional government funding, An Garda Síochána has also increased the hours of operation of GoSafe detection vans, with a focus on locations with high levels of collisions.”

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has to correct the Dáil record after publishing an entire database of incorrect garda staffing figures.

Among the mistakes was the minister stating one of her local garda stations had six times more gardaí than are actually based there.

The official garda staffing figures have been withdrawn after a bizarre “technical error” saw 166 newly graduated gardaí assigned to just two garda stations.

One of the stations is in the minister’s local constituency and the other is in a neighbouring area.

Not only were the inaccurate figures published by the Department of Justice, but the minister quoted them in a reply to a parliamentary question in the Dáil.

“The Dáil record will be updated and the department will upload the corrected spreadsheet once received,” the minister’s department said.

There have also been concerns about the lower number of gardaí in the roads policing units, at 627 members compared with 692 two years ago.

A garda spokesperson said they are committed to reducing the rate of road deaths, and plan to add about 75 gardaí to roads policing over the next two years.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris this month also instructed all gardaí to spend 30 ­minutes on road policing during every shift.

In the first two months of 2024, there were 878 arrests for drink driving and 488 arrests for drug-driving offences.