NATIONAL SLOWDOWN DAY kicks off today, with traffic gardaí across the country out in force to reduce road speeds.

Gardaí will have a visible presence on the roads from 7am this morning to 7am on Saturday, with an aim to raising awareness with motorists around the dangers of speeding.

The operation will take place as Met Éireann has issued status red and yellow wind and rain warnings for areas across the country.

Because of this, gardaí are not just advising motorists to drive at the legal speed limit but to slow down further where needed.

“Please stick strictly to the posted speed limit, but if the road, traffic or especially weather conditions dictate… reduce your speed even further,” said chief superintendent of the Roads Policing Bureau Finbarr Murphy.

This will make the journey safer not only for you, but for every road user sharing the road with you.

Garda Derek Cloughley from the Roads Policing Unit told TheJournal.ie that the day was primarily about raising awareness of the dangers of high speeds, but that enforcement action would also be taken against people speeding.

“There is a direct correlation between your speed and what happens to you in the event of a collision,” said Cloughley.

He said that a driver’s speed could be the difference “between life and death” of a car’s driver and the occupant.

Ahead of the operation, gardaí released speeding enforcement figures from last Friday.

Of the 98,465 vehicles that were monitored by gardaí, 241 were found to have violated speed limits.

Among these was a car clocked at travelling at 158 km/h in a 120 km/h zone on the M3 at Bracetown in Co Meath, less than 150m from Scoil Naomh Iosef.

The operation itself is supported by the Road Safety Authority and will see high visibility enforcement in the over 1,000 speed enforcement zones on roads across the country.

As well as this, there will be frequent road safety messages issued via social media and gardaí will provide road safety advice in different venues.

Read: Motorists caught speeding at 170 kph and learner driver tests positive for cocaine and cannabis

Read: Drivers have been acting the absolute goat on Ireland’s roads in the last 24 hours

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