The speed limit on many rural local roads will change from 80km/h to 60km/h from Friday, February 7 as the government launches its ‘Slower Speeds, Safer Roads’ campaign.
The changes are part of Ireland’s Government Road Safety Strategy 2021–2030, which has the primary aim of reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50% by 2030.
The first phase of the strategy’s action plan set out the need for a working group of relevant stakeholders to review speed limits. The group published its review in September 2023.
Local authorities have received grants to change signs from ‘80’ to ‘60’ for these changes. The changes will include roads that are named with ‘L’ on maps, which are mostly rural roads.
The striped ‘rural speed limit sign’, which is used as an alternative to numeric signs on specific single lane rural roads, will also now mean that a maximum 60km/h limit is in force.
Future implementation phases will focus on the speed limit in urban cores, which include built-up areas, as well as housing estates and town centres, reducing to 30km/h. The speed limit on national secondary roads is also recommended to reduce from 100km/h to 80km/h.
Speed limit changes
The Department of Transport has been working with An Garda Síochána to ensure they are ready to implement the new limit.
Chief superintendent Jane Humphries in the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau said: “An Garda Síochána will be utilising our network of roads policing and frontline resources and technology to enforce these new speed limits on local rural roads.
“An Garda Síochána partners in Road Safety, GoSafe, will also be deploying mobile safety camera vans as required to enforce the new lower speed limits.”
The structure of speed limit law in Ireland is that national legislation sets default speed limits for different classes of roads. Local Authorities may then make changes to the default by setting ‘special speed limits’ for given roads in their areas.
Each local authority has been asked to carry out a review in accordance with these updated guidelines in advance of the commencement of the default speed limit of 60km/h.