Go slow in Dublin as council expands 30kmh speed limit

The new limit will be applied to non-arterial roads in the Dolphin's Barn, Kilmainham and Smithfield areas from Friday following a vote by Dublin City councillors in December.

The measure will also be extended to residential zones in the wider Dublin area from May 31. This will include Sandymount, Drimnagh and Crumlin on the south side of the city, before extending to north Dublin and areas covering parts of Glasnevin and Cabra.

The decision was made on the back of a report by the council's Strategic Policy Committee for Transport, which is chaired by Green Party councillor Ciarán Cuffe.

The objective is to create calmer and safer communities for people to live, work and visit in a secure and healthy environment.

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Mr Cuffe said this was a step in the right direction.

"Speed is a major contributory factor to road deaths in the Republic of Ireland - 21pc of all road deaths every year are caused by excessive speed with 54pc of those fatalities being pedestrians.

"London has already introduced 20mph speed limits in wide areas and Edinburgh has begun to roll out 20mph speed limits to cover 80pc of the city," he said.

"A number of other European cities are progressing to introduce speed limits similar to our 30kmh proposal such as Paris, Lyon, Manchester and many cities and towns in Switzerland and Spain.

"Lower speed limits save lives and improve the quality of life in our cities."

A 30kmh speed limit currently applies in parts of the city centre in Dublin 1, Dublin 2, Marino in Dublin 3 and Irishtown and Ballsbridge in Dublin 4.

"Ireland as a nation needs to stand up and except that speed is a huge problem in road safety," said Cllr Cuffe.

"The number of cars, blind spots and the population of Ireland is growing, so if this is an issue now can you imagine it again in five to 10 years.

"We need to act now for prevention of more senseless deaths.

"We ask you to support Dublin City Council's proposal to reduce the speed limit from 50kmh to 30kmh in residential areas. It adds a little time to your journey but, trust me, that's a lot better than a life sentence of knowing you took an innocent life."

The default speed limit for the city is 50kmh, but parts have had the lower limit imposed since May. However, when a limit of 30kmh was imposed on parts of the quays several years ago, a survey at the time found that fewer than one in 10 drivers was obeying.