Over 60 new safety camera zones 'proven to save lives' become active this week

Dozens of new safety camera zones are due to become operational this week. 

According to An Garda Síochána, 61 zones will go live from 6am on Tuesday July 26, bringing the total number nationwide to 1,373. 

It comes as Gardaí confirm 89 road deaths so far this year, marking an increase of 28 and 13 compared to 2021 and 2019 respectively. 

Superintendent Thomas Murphy of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau said, "When someone decides to speed they put themselves and members of their community at risk, particularly children, older people, cyclists and other motorists. Our priority is to ensure that the vast majority of people who use the roads responsibly are not put in danger by a minority of reckless drivers who continue to drive at excessive speed.
 
"GoSafe vans operate in areas that have a speed-related collision history where fatal, serious injury and minor injury collisions occur. In addition, locations which have been highlighted by members of the community as being areas of concern, have been included in the new zones. By identifying and targeting these high-risk areas, the aim is to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury collisions."

The new zones are located across 23 counties with 49% on regional routes, 31% on national routes and 20% on other routes including motorways and local roads. 

Locations were selected following an analysis of Garda data acquired from fatal, serious and minor road traffic collisions. 

Superintendent Murphy continued: "The deployment of safety cameras has been proven to save lives. I call on every road user to play their part to make the roads safer for all. You can do this by being a Lifesaver." 

Over two million speeding tickets have reportedly been issued since their introduction.