By Róise Collins
THERE has been a significant fall in Fixed Charge Notices for speeding in Donegal in the past decade.
Ten years ago the number of speeding fines issued in the county was close to 5,000.
In 2022 this figure declined to 3,808.
These figures include both intercept (Garda member) and non-intercept (mobile safety camera van) detections.
The figures which were released in response to a Parliamentary Question (PQ) from Aontú party leader Peadar Tóibín show a significant fall in the level of Fixed Charge Notices for speeding across the state.
The Meath based TD outlined how these figures come just after another response to a PQ where the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee admitted that there has been a massive fall in the number of Gardaí employed to police our roads.
“Fixed Traffic Notices for speeding have fallen by 27 per cent since 2014 according to the data provided to me. The downward trend in Fixed Traffic Notices even continues in the first 9 months of this year.”
In Donegal the number of speeding fines issued in the first nine months of the year sits at 2,144.
“This chimes with the fact that the number of Gardaí policing our roads is now lower than at any stage than the last 14 years. The number of Gardaí policing our roads has fallen a colossal 36 per cent since 2009,” said Deputy Tóibín.
“These facts are particularly significant given the horrendous and heart-breaking rise in the number of deaths on our roads this year,” Deputy
Tóibín added as he spoke of the two young people who lost their lives on the roads in Donegal last week.
“Ireland has witnessed a significant increase in the number of road deaths. All of us have been stopped in our tracks over the last few months by the heart breaking loss of life that has visited so many families.
“No one likes to get a speeding fine but we know that there is a direct correlation between road policing and driver behaviour. Enforcement saves lives.
“Shockingly that enforcement is not happening anymore on many of our roads. Drivers know this and some drivers are not adhering to safety laws as a result. This is true for drink driving, speeding, dangerous driving etc.
“The government and the Minister for Justice need to get real when it comes to road safety. They need but resources where their mouth is”.
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