In the build-up to the October Bank Holiday weekend, an Garda Siochana has released its usual 'slow down' message, along with some scary figures that would encourage drivers to stay off the road this weekend.
Of the nearly 140,000 speeding fines issued to date, the vast majority (80 per cent) fall into the 10-29km/h over the posted limit category - 130- to 159km/h on the motorway for example. A scary number of drivers (1,172) have been clocked in excess of 50km/h over the posted limit while one unnamed driver was caught driving at 234km/h on the M6 motorway outside Loughrea in Galway. To save you from doing the sums yourself that is just shy of double the 120km/h speed limit.
Another driver was detected driving at 210km/h on the N7 in Kildare - in a zone clearly limited to 100km/h. But scariest of all is the driver who was found doing 120km/h on the South Ring Road in Bishopstown, Cork. While perfectly legal on motorways, that speed was conducted on a road with a 30km/h limit - usually reserved for residential areas or near schools.
The Bank Holiday crackdown has already begun and will continue until November 3 with "An Garda Síochána intensively targeting drivers and riders who speed." You have been warned...