Declan Meehan, independent candidate in the Milford Electoral Area, was seen with a gun outside Ramelton last week. No, not that type of gun. This was a speed gun.
Why? Well, he has said that he wanted hard data to present to the roads engineers at Donegal County Council to entice them to address a long-running issue.
“Many people on the doors have been raising the issue of the speed drivers on the way into Ramelton, past Coylin Court and down into Bridge End. They have also been highlighting it for years previously with the Council and their Councillors, and yet nothing has been done. This was an issue on the doors five years ago in 2019, and there has been no progress on addressing it up to 2024” Meehan said.
“Last week I purchased a speed gun and decided to get some hard facts to present back to the Council to continue lobbying for traffic calming measures at this stretch of road” Meehan told us.
The data was frightening.
91 per cent of drivers were over the 50km/hr speed limit, 77 per cent were over 60km/hr, a third of drivers were over 70km/hr and one in ten were driving more than 80km/hr.
“It is so easy to speed on this stretch of road” Meehan admits, “which is why we need our council to act now before someone gets hurt. We need measures in place to slow traffic down, and to make them aware of the speed they are doing, including a radar speed recognition sign. This can’t wait another five years.” Indeed, the Council have conceded that there have already been five accidents on this stretch of road in the past year.
“We need action on this now for Ramelton. I have forwarded on the data to the roads engineers to draw their attention once again to this and to highlight the need for traffic calming on the approach to the town. In the meantime, I am asking drivers to be mindful of their speed coming into Ramelton and slow down, it might just save a child’s life. The difference in speed on stretches of road like this is really important: if you hit a pedestrian at 80kmh there is only a 10% survival rate, if you hit a pedestrian at 50kmh there is a 71% survival rate.” Meehan concludes.
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