All uniformed Gardaí to do mandatory 30 minutes of road policing per shift

An Garda Síochána has instructed all uniformed Gardaí to do a mandatory 30 minutes of road safety policing per shift.

The move comes against a backdrop of rising fatalities on Irish roads. There have been 63 fatalities on Irish roads this year, an massive increase of 15 on 2023.

It will be very interesting to see how this works. During a recent bank holiday road safety campaign, the videos showing checkpoints had all the Gardaí looking at tax discs as the standard for stopping or waving on motorists –  what had that to do with road safety?

An Garda Síochána has also announced plans to increase by 75 the number of members allocated to its roads policing unit by the end of the year.

Working with An Garda Síochána, the Department of Transport and other key stakeholders, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) claims that through its education initiatives, research programmes and campaign initiatives, is at the forefront of efforts to tackle the problem.

In recent months the RSA says that it has intensified its activities through increased high-impact campaigns.

It also claims to have broadened its audience reach through new social media activities; rolled out road safety innovation initiatives; revised its education programme to reach more second level and college students; and delivered ground-breaking research that addresses key road safety issues.

Well these initiatives must be medium- to long-term, because they are having no immediate impact. Road deaths are rising rapidly.