Over 200 caught speeding as bank holiday roads policing ramps up

One driver was doing 196km per hour on a 100km per hour road

A Garda road safety operation is currently in operation for the August Bank Holiday. Picture: file photograph
A Garda road safety operation is currently in operation for the August Bank Holiday. Picture: file photograph

More than 200 drivers have been caught speeding on Irish roads since Thursday morning, with one detected travelling at 196km per hour on a national road in Co Cavan, as part of an enhanced roads policing operation.

Since 7am on Thursday, gardaí have been on the roads in numbers, detecting poor driving behaviours such as driving above the speed limit as part of a the August Bank Holiday road safety operation. So far, almost 85,000 vehicles have been checked for speeding.

A Garda spokeswoman said it was “positive” that the majority of motorists have been recorded as travelling within the designated speed, but 211 were found travelling above the speed limit with some of the driver behaviours described as particularly dangerous.

Among the speeds highlighted by gardaí were a driver caught travelling at 196km per hour in a 100km per hour zone on the N55 at Kilcogy in Co Cavan, while another driver was detected travelling at 141km per hour in an 80km zone on the N81 at Tullow, Co. Carlow. A third driver was travelling at 106km per hour in a 60km per hour zone on the Monaghan Road in Castleblayney.

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“Our August Bank Holiday roads policing operation has been under way since first thing yesterday morning and while we are generally seeing good levels of compliance with speed limits on roads around Ireland, I am gravely concerned by the risks taken by some drivers,” said Chief Superintendent Jane Humphries of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau.

She added that gardaí would be out conducting checkpoints and using technology to detect those speeding nationwide over the coming days.

Conor Pope

Conor Pope

Conor Pope is Consumer Affairs Correspondent, Pricewatch Editor