{"id":11491,"date":"2025-02-07T11:03:57","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T11:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?p=11491"},"modified":"2025-02-07T11:03:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T11:03:57","slug":"reduction-in-speed-limits-on-rural-roads-must-be-matched-with-increased-garda-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/reduction-in-speed-limits-on-rural-roads-must-be-matched-with-increased-garda-enforcement\/","title":{"rendered":"Reduction in speed limits on rural roads must be matched with increased Garda enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today\u2019s introduction of reduced speed limits on rural roads, while welcome, will be less effective without increased Garda visibility and enforcement, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n<p>Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s transport spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the unacceptable rate of tragedies on our roads, I am fully supportive of the strategy to reduce the speed limit from 80km\/h to 60 km\/h in rural areas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe figures for deaths on rural roads are truly shocking. Between 2020 and 2024, almost three in four road fatalities \u2013 and almost 50 per cent of all serious injuries \u2013 occurred on rural roads with a speed limit of 80km\/h.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLarge swathes of my own Wicklow constituency are rural so I welcome this initiative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, along with the reduction in speed limits, we need to see an increased Garda presence on rural roads, matched with proper enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Garda Road Policing Unit must be fully resourced if these new measures are to make a real difference in reducing the ongoing carnage on our roads.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn addition, today\u2019s initiative must be promoted through a high-profile public information campaign so that motorists are fully aware of the new speed limit reductions on rural roads.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>February 7, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today\u2019s introduction of reduced speed limits on rural roads, while welcome, will be less effective without increased Garda visibility and enforcement, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s transport spokesperson, said: \u201cGiven the unacceptable rate of tragedies on our roads, I am fully supportive of the strategy to reduce [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[268,7,672,547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release","category-road-safety","category-transport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Reduction in speed limits on rural roads must be matched with increased Garda enforcement - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/reduction-in-speed-limits-on-rural-roads-must-be-matched-with-increased-garda-enforcement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reduction in speed limits on rural roads must be matched with increased Garda enforcement - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today\u2019s introduction of reduced speed limits on rural roads, while welcome, will be less effective without increased Garda visibility and enforcement, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. 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