Careful Now: Laois/Offaly gardaí launch speeding crackdown
The Laois/Offaly speed reduction campaign launched on 18 March will continue over the summer. Image: An Garda Síochána Laois Offaly
GARDAÍ have launched a crackdown on speeding in towns and villages throughout the Laois/Offaly division.
The campaign launched today will continue over the summer, targeting approach roads to urban areas in both counties.
Announcing the ‘Garda Divisional Speed Reduction Campaign’ on Wednesday 18 March, the force said it would bring an increased garda presence on approaches to both small and large urban areas.
The campaign comes against the backdrop of 37 lives lost on Irish roads so far this year, including 12 pedestrians.
In a social media post titled ‘Careful Now’, Laois/Offaly gardaí said: ‘Road users will see an increased garda presence on approaches to urban areas, with the aim of encouraging drivers to reduce their speed and drive appropriately for the areas they are entering.
‘Drivers are reminded that anyone detected driving above the posted speed limit is liable to a €160 fine and three penalty points on their driving licence. This can be easily avoided with good driver behaviour.’
They added: ‘Speed limits are not targets. Please slow down and help keep our roads safe for everyone.’
The scale of excessive speed on Laois roads was apparent during a special enforcement operation on Saturday 14 March, when gardaí targeted a notorious local road where the speed limit is 60kph.
One driver was recorded doing 105kph on the L3976 at Tankardstown near Barrowhouse, while other speeds ranged from 85kph to 96kph.
The culprits included a disqualified driver doing 95kph in a Renault Clio, which was pulled in and seized by gardaí.
The radar speed check was mounted following ongoing complaints from residents along the road, where the speed limit was reduced from 80kph to 60kph last year.
Gardaí said members of the Laois Roads Policing Unit (RPU) were ‘responding to local concerns’ when they carried out speed enforcement in the area.
The Tankardstown-Barrowhouse road has seen a litany of crashes, including two within the past nine months where vehicles crashed into the front garden of the same house.
As reported at the time, the force of the latest crash on Friday 13 February sent bricks flying into the family home, after a car ploughed through a front hedge and wall.
