Commissioning and testing have begun on two new average speed cameras being installed at accident blackspots on national roads to combat speeding and fatal collisions.
An Garda SÃochána has said the two cameras have been installed on the N3 between Kilduff and Billis in Co Cavan, and the N5 between Lislackagh and Cullmore in Swinford, Co Mayo.
The cameras are among the three average and 9 static speed safety cameras set to be installed before the end of the year at “high collision sites”, which have seen numerous crashes, resulting in injury, serious injury, and fatalities.
The locations of each camera were announced in May.
Average speed cameras work by monitoring a vehicle’s speed over a certain distance, rather than at a single point.
They use automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to record the time, date, and location of each vehicle that passes through specific entry and exit points.
Motorists detected travelling from point A to point B too quickly, are issued with a Fixed Charge Notice which, when processed, assigns three penalty points to the drivers licence and a fine of up to €160.
The cameras, gardaà say, are intended to “change driver behaviour, reducing average “speed of road users and the number of collisions that occur, making roads safer for all road users and decreasing the impact of speed on local communities”.
Similar camera were previously installed in the Dublin Port Tunnel in 2017 and on the M7 in 2022, between Junction 26 and Junction 27.
According to research studies conducted in Sweden and Norway, the cameras can reduce fatal collisions by 38% to 49%.
On Wednesday, Justice Minister Helen McEntee announced that an additional 100 new speed cameras were being rolled out as part of a €9m investment in road safety.
Ms McEntee said the cameras would provide for “improved enforcement of traffic laws and help to reduce speeding, ultimately saving lives on our roads.”
As Wednesday morning, 137 people had been killed on Irish roads so far in 2024, two more than the total number of fatalities recorded at this point in 2023.
“We have all been shocked by the loss of life on our roads. The most important thing that we can all do is ensure that we practice good road safety and take personal responsibility in keeping others and ourselves safe on our roads,” Ms McEntee said.
The Minister said successful road safety strategies require stakeholders to consider “a number of matters that together can save lives: technology, road design, driver behaviour and education, severity of penalties, speed limits, and of course, where all else fails, enforcement”
“We know speed is a significant contributor to road deaths and so it’s vital we leverage technology to make our roads safer for everyone.”
Ms McEntee also confirmed that 150 extra gardaà would assigned to roads policing this year and next.
