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NEW SPEED LIMITS are being implemented across Ireland’s rural local roads from today, marking what the government hopes will be a significant step towards improving road safety and reducing fatalities.
Speed limits on many local roads have now been reduced from 80km/h to 60km/h, as part of a broader initiative to tackle the rising number of road deaths and injuries.
The change has mainly impacted rural local roads – slimmer roads in less-densely populated areas of the country.
Speed limit road signs will be changed or replaced to reflect the new speed limits for affected roads, and the rural speed limit sign (pictured below) will change meaning in line with the speed reduction.
The sign, which is used as an alternative to numeric speed limit signs on specific single lane rural roads, will be used as an alternative to 60km/h signs on some roads.
The limits will be enforced from today, the Road Safety Authority and Gardaí said.
Later in 2025, speed limits in urban locations, including town centres and housing estates, will be reduced to 30km/h. Additionally, national secondary roads will see speed limits drop from 100km/h to 80km/h later this year.
A spokesperson for the RSA told The Journal that the main goal of the new speed limits is to “reduce the likelihood of road fatalities and reduce the severity in collisions.”
In 2024, 174 people died on Irish roads, a sharp rise from the 140 road deaths only five years before in 2019.
The RSA emphasised that the change is all about “making roads safer” for all road users.
“A total of 69% of road fatalities last year occurred on rural roads, so it’s about tackling that figure,” an RSA spokesperson said.
With rural roads often being narrower and less populated, the risk of serious accidents is higher, especially when drivers are travelling at higher speeds.
“Our road data from 2019 to 2025 showed that speed was a factor in a quarter of deaths,” the spokesperson said.
“If you’re a pedestrian and you get hit by a car travelling at 80 km/h, nine out of ten times you will die. At 60 km/h, that figure goes down to five in ten, which is a huge reduction in the risk of fatalities and serious injuries.”
Chief Superintendent Jane Humphries of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau described the speed limit reduction as “vital”, adding that the change will “save a lot of lives on the roads”.
“Recently, the Welsh government lowered their speed limit on urban roads from 30 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour,” Humphries told RTE Radio’s Claire Byrne show.
“Their data showed that they had 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured on their roads in the 12 months after the change than during the year previous,” Humphries said.
“This similar change here is essential to make our roads much safer and, simply, to save lives.”
While some motorists may be concerned about the impact of the new speed limits on travel times, both the RSA and Garda authorities stress that the difference is minimal.
“The average journey in a car in Ireland is only 16.9 kilometres,” the RSA spokesperson said.
“By going from 80km/h to 60km/h, you only need an extra four minutes. You would barely notice that short span of time, but when you think of how it can reduce pedestrian fatalities, it’s worth it.”
Humphries added that it’s important for drivers to understand the reasoning behind the changes.
“What we’re doing is that we are asking drivers to have some consideration and understand why the speed limit has been reduced,” she said.
“We all spend hours every day scrolling on our phones, and all that we are asking people to do is to take only a few minutes longer for their journey to make the roads safer for everyone.”
Gardaí and the RSA said that there will be “no delay” in the enforcement of the new rural local roads speed limits.
Drivers caught exceeding the 60km/h limit on affected rural roads will face a fine of €160 and three penalty points.
If the fine is not paid within 28 days, it will increase to €240, and if unpaid, the driver will be summoned to court.
“There seems to be a myth that people don’t get caught speeding on rural roads,” the RSA spokesperson said.
“Despite this, 130,000 fixed charge notices were issued last year for speeding. Around 40% of these speed detections took place on on rural roads, so there is a lot of monitoring on these roads as it is.”
“We’re all adults, it’s not too much to ask,” Chief Superintendent Humphries said.
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