Gardai give backing to new map revealing speed traps
MOTORISTS are being pointed in the right direction to help them slow down and avoid speeding penalties.
A road map publisher has become the first to highlight garda speed enforcement zones on its Irish road atlases by alerting drivers to route sections which are closely monitored by mobile speed cameras.
The move was welcomed yesterday by the gardai, Automobile Association and the Road Safety Authority in the drive to encourage motorists to reduce speed and slow down.
Car satellite navigation systems already give the driver information about speed monitored roads but now road map publisher Dundrum Maps has added the details to its road atlases.
The gardai, along with the National Roads Authority, have already identified the collision history of the road network where speed was a contributory factor in death or injury.
Awareness
Based on this analysis, a series of speed enforcement zones have been drawn up to raise motorists' awareness about speeding. A detailed county- by-county zone of hundreds of speed enforcement areas is listed on the official garda website.
The zones are used by the gardai to "direct speed enforcement activity in a proportionate and targeted manner", the website explains, and are reviewed and updated through continuing analysis and feedback.
Dublin Maps said its atlases were now using a simple dotted line to mark the stretches of road in these speed enfo- rcement zones. A company spokesman said the idea was to get motorists to slow down and not speed.
The gardai said they welcomed the additional focus on road safety which would lead to a decrease in collisions.
"A list of these zones has been placed on the garda website. The aim of providing this information to the public is to raise awareness of the consequences of speeding in these zones with the objective of improving driver behaviour and compliance with speed limits," a garda spokesman said.
Also welcoming the move, the Road Safety Authority said the garda strategy in publicising the speed enforcement zones was not to catch people speeding but to encourage them to slow down.
"We would encourage motorists to visit the garda website and see these locations which have a track record in relation to speed-related deaths and injuries," said a spokesman.
- Fergus Black
