LAST UPDATE | 23 Dec 2025

CLOSE TO 400 new speed camera safety zones will become operational from New Year’s Day.

The additional 390 safety camera zones will bring the total number to 1,901.

To date this year, there have been 186 road deaths – the highest level of road deaths on Irish roads in over a decade.

Pedestrians account for 44 of the deaths, drivers 74, motorcyclists 30, passengers 21, pedal cyclists 14, e-scooter users 2, and one classified as ‘other’.

Safety cameras operate in areas where there is a history of speed-related collisions known as speed enforcement zones.

Locations are selected following an analysis of collated Garda data acquired from fatal, serious and minor road traffic collisions and from further consideration given to locations of concern highlighted by local communities.

Gardaí say that the objective is to take a “proactive approach” in the prevention of fatalities and life-changing injuries by identifying new speed enforcement zones not currently monitored.

Assistant Commissioner Catharina Gunne, of the Roads Policing and Community Engagement, remarked that there is a “small persistent cohort of selfish, dangerous drivers who choose to drive in excess of the posted speed limit”.

She said some of the new locations have been highlighted by members of the community as being areas of concern.

“By identifying and targeting these high-risk areas, the aim is to reduce the number of fatal and serious injury collisions,” said Gunne.

Some 36 of the new safety camera zones are in Dublin, with 30 in Cork and 26 in Donegal.

National Slow Down Day

Meanwhile, gardaí are out in force across Ireland today for National Slow Down Day, a 24-hour speed enforcement operation aimed at promoting safer driving during the busy Christmas holiday period.

The initiative, run in partnership with the Road Safety Authority (RSA), began at midnight and will run until 11:59pm.

So far, gardaí and safety cameras have detected 676 vehicles exceeding speed limits.

Notable examples included several drivers travelling more than twice the speed limit – a driver in Dublin 14 was caught doing 119 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, while another motorist was detected travelling 139 km/h in a 60 km/h zone in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow.

“Driving above the legal speed limit – or at a speed unsuitable for current road, weather or traffic conditions – not only endangers the driver but also puts other road users at significant risk,” a garda spokesperson said.

“Excessive speed reduces a driver’s ability to respond to unexpected hazards and increases the likelihood of losing control, which can result in serious or fatal collisions.”

Gardaí have also been conducting checkpoints and high-visibility patrols nationwide, focusing on drink and drug-driving, speeding, seatbelt use, and mobile phone offences.

Over recent weeks, more than 5,300 drivers were detected speeding, 170 arrested for drink or drug-driving, and over 650 vehicles seized for road offences.

The Christmas and New Year period is one of the most dangerous times on Irish roads, gardaí have warned, with increased traffic volumes, social gatherings, and poor weather conditions contributing to higher risks.

-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper