Speed Counter Installed On Notorious Athy To Carlow Road For A Single Week Deemed 'Useless' Without Enforcement

Thursday, 25 April 2024 11:46

By Martin Osborne

Cllr Mark Leigh has questioned what good the speed counter is when cameras can't be installed to catch culprits.

A speed counter installed on the Athy to Carlow Road has been described as useless without enforcement.

The road is known as a speeding blackspot, with one car clocked over the single week in March driving at 150km on a 60km stretch.

Cllr Mark Leigh has questioned what good the speed counter is when cameras can't be installed to catch culprits.

It was installed between Levitstown and Maganey.

Cllr Leigh said issues around GDPR mean the council can't install a speed camera.

He said there were three accidents on the road in the past two months and that it's time to go to a stationary speed camera.

Out of 25,000 cars that used the road over the single week, over 13,000 were caught speeding.

The issue is to be raised at the next Joint Policing Committee in May, with the figures to be presented to the local Superintendent Paul Burke.

Meanwhile, a road safety group says the penalty points system is not enough of a deterrent and the lack of Garda presence is leading to motorists taking risks.

PARC road safety group is calling for high Garda visibility and speed checks to be constant features on the roads to halt the rising death toll.

Reiterating PARC's concerns, the Road Safety Authority says Garda enforcement is key to tackling the rise in road deaths.

The RSA's David Martin says people will indulge in bad behaviour on the roads if they're not penalised:

69 people have died on the roads in the first 116 days of the year, with 5 fatalities in Kildare.

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