THE MINISTER FOR Transport Eamon Ryan has today launched a Speed Limit Appeals Procedure and new Shared Space road signage.

Firstly, the appeals procedure will allow members of the public to object and appeal existing speed limits, that are within a Local Authority’s current bye-laws.

It is live from today at this link.

This offers people an opportunity to highlight speed limits which they believe are “inappropriate and require investigation” according to the Department of Transport.

Officials also intend for this to speed up the process of reviewing queries about speed limits which usually take place every five years.

Appeals process

The initial application can be made at no cost, to the Local Authority panel.

That panel will decide if the limit is either in accordance with the Speed Limit Guidelines, or not.

If the panel believes the limit in question is within the guidelines, and does not need to be changed, the public can follow up by escalating the issue to an independent regional panel.

That carries an administration fee of €125, but the fee will be refunded if the appeal is successful.

If the Local Authority panel, or the independent group decides it is not in accordance with the guidelines work will begin on rectifying that.

Safety first

The guidelines say the primary focus must be safety, but the needs in terms of traffic flow should be considered too as a secondary objective.

Minister Eamon Ryan stressed that this is not a mechanism for those issued with a penalty for speeding to appeal against that penalty.

“The Programme for Government committed to reviewing and reducing speed limits with a view to addressing both road safety issues and carbon emissions and ensuring greater compliance,” said. 

“This process will highlight speed limits that are deemed inappropriate, and which require further investigation. It is important to note however that this is not a mechanism for appealing penalties issued for speeding offences.”

An appeal can be launched by a member of the public or interested group under the new system. Source: Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

Shared space

The Minister has also announced further measures to cut back on the dominance road vehicles command in public spaces.

New Shared Space signage is being introduced to alert road users, not just drivers, that the area they’re approaching and entering is a low-speed shared ‘public realm’ space.

The signs can only be erected in areas with speed limits of 20km/h or 30km/h, in areas where pedestrians and cyclists share the main road with vehicles.

1/ Leaving aside the wider issues of street design and whether or not people will understand the difference between these 2 signs, the design of these signs is hopelessly bad. They look like they are from 2 different countries... pic.twitter.com/yPAeYacgs3

— Limerick Cycle Design (@LkCycleDesign) December 3, 2021

Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton TD says these are to highlight to drivers and cyclists that they should react by proceeding slowly, in order to allow other road users to feel safe and “move freely.”

Naughton added “the signs will play an important part in enhancing road safety in these areas and ensure that pedestrians are prioritised.”