We would like to highlight and commend the Gardaí who throughout the country will be implementing 'Operation Slow Down', an intense campaign of traffic enforcement over a 24-hour period this bank holiday weekend.
"From 7am on Friday 31st May to 7am on Saturday 1st June, An Garda Síochána, along with other stakeholders, will run Operation “Slow Down”. The objectives of the Operation are to raise awareness of the dangers of inappropriate and excessive speed, reduce the number of speed related collisions, and therefore save lives and reduce injuries on our roads.
According to independent research conducted by Behavior & Attitudes on behalf of the RSA in 2012, just over half of drivers say it is unacceptable to break the speed limit. This is very welcome. However, one in every ten drivers said it’s ok to break the speed limit by 10km/h or more, although the number of people in this group is dropping year on year. Of concern is the one third of drivers who believe it is acceptable to break the speed limit by up to 10km/h. These drivers need to understand that breaking the speed limit by such margins can have devastating consequences. For example if a pedestrian is hit at 50km/h the chance of survival is fifty fifty, the toss of a coin. If the same pedestrian is hit at 60km/h nine out of ten will die. We need to realise that a car driven at any speed has the potential to become a lethal weapon, that’s the laws of physics.”
The video below is designed to show you the difference that just 5km per hour makes never mind 10km per hour when a collision occurs and will show you the importance of travelling at the right speeds at the right time so if you ever were unfortunate enough to be in a collision you will see the difference 5km per hour can make.
"For the past seven years, there has been a year on year decrease in the number of road fatalities in Ireland. However, as we move into the second half of 2013, there have been 11 more fatalities on our roads than at this time last year. This brings to 75, the number of people killed in a road traffic collision to date.Based on collision data to date in 2013 over three quarters (78%) of fatalities have been a driver, passenger or motorcyclist. Similarly more than one third (37%) of fatalities have occurred on Thursdays and Fridays. Excessive or inappropriate speed is a significant contributory factor in road traffic collisions."
An Garda Síochána will be working with other institutions including the Road Safety Authority, Local Authorities, the National Transport Authority, the National Roads Authority, the Departments of Transport and the Health and Safety Authority.
We at the RSA Driving School intend to affirm the message of 'Operation Slow Down' and will be highlighting the campaign to all the students currently undertaking their driving lessons with the RSA Driving School.
Thanks for reading and remember drive safe and slow down.
