New road safety strategy for Dublin

A new road safety strategy for Dublin is to be targeted at vulnerable road users who make up nearly two thirds of road deaths in the capital.

Pedestrians, motorcyclists and pedal cyclists accounted for over 200 of the 329 people killed on roads in the Garda's Dublin Metropolitan Region since 2001.

While road deaths in the capital have been falling by as much as 12 per cent year on year, members of the Garda National Traffic Bureau will meet the Road Safety Authority tomoorrow to discuss the new strategy which will focus on speed, impaired driving and aggressive driver behaviour.

Over the coming months, motorists in Dublin and elsewhere can also expect marked and unmarked Garda cars to mingle with traffic using new Puma on-board computers which automatically read the numberplates of nearby vehicles.

Puma can identify untaxed or uninsured vehicles and record issues such as aggressive driving or speeding.

Puma is being used extensively by gardai in all divisions this week as part of a pan-European crackdown on speeding, involving the EU, Norway, Switzerland and Serbia.

Assistant Commissioner Kevin Ludlow said each Garda division would take part and success - in comparison to European colleagues - would be measured in the numbers of "fixed notice" penalties imposed on errant drivers.

In the Dublin Metropolitan region, gardaí will also deploy Operation Lockdown and Operation Surround to target drink and drug driving.

Operation Lockdown comprises 16 checkpoints within the canal ring and a further 16 outside it. It is intended to capture drink drivers on their way out of the city in the evening times.

Operation Surround targets urban villages where people are likely to socialise, particularly at weekends. The operation will see road blocks at access roads.