Average speed zone proposed for Clare amid rising rates of motorway collisions

Rising rates of road traffic accidents and collisions across the county have prompted calls for the introduction of an average speed zone in Clare.

Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick O'Gorman at the November meeting of Clare County Council called on Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to explore the possibility of installing an average speed safety system similar others around the country.

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Speaking on the average speed zones in counties Meath, Mayo and Dublin and Tipperary, Cllr O'Gorman said: "I suppose the one we're all familiar it is the one between Nenagh and and Birdhill - if you are ever going to Dublin it's a nine kilometre stretch of road. You see the big yellow speed camera's over the road."

Average speed cameras are different to traditional speed detection systems, which capture a vehicle’s speed at one point on the road, but rather this system monitors a driver’s average speed while driving between two points. 

When a vehicle encounters the first camera it will record the number plate, and then likewise when they leave past the second camera, then with these two figures, the safety system will calculate how long it took the vehicle to travel between the two points. 

He explained that: "Going by the gardai and what they have come back with is they tell [us] that there is very few people, if ever, caught on that stretch of road now that the cameras are there."

On the gardai reporting a significant reduction in speeding on this stretch, Cllr O'Gorman explained: "That tells us that once you see the camera and you know that it's there you automatically pay attention to your speed and watch what you are doing and concentrating more on the road."

These successful measures in other counties inspired him to call on Clare County Council to liaise with the TII to install a similar system somewhere between Bunratty and Cratloe to "get nine maybe fifteen kilometres of a stretch [of road] with these average speed cameras installed. It might be one way of reducing the amount of crashes on the motorway/ dual carriageway at this moment in time."

He emphasised to the chamber: ""Because at the moment we have one [collision] a week  and it would be something to put in place, it's not going cost a fortune but it might save a life - and if it did save a life it would be a cheap way of doing it."

Cllr Tom O'Callaghan supported the motion, emphasising that they must "hit the pocket" when it comes to speed related offences.

He outlined how "the one thing that I always find is that people are paying for a fine - they're not concerned about paying the money for it they are very concerned about the penalty points", and if the government embraces the "overall approach" proposed by Cllr O'Gorman and if the council can "get vehicle recognition and it goes back to fining, I guarantee you that we will save lives."

Cllr David Griffin stated that the motion is "very timely, we've seen a significant uptake in crashes along the M18 in recent days and weeks."

Speaking on his locality he explained: ""We have seen in my own area around the Dromoland exit there seems to be significant blackspots for crashes. Ten days ago there was quite a significant one there when I was coming out of Newmarket village there was a line of cars going the whole way back nearly to the roundabout at Ballymurtagh."

He emphasised that the M18 is a "strategic piece of road" that connects Shannon Airport to Ennis and Galway and that the introduction of an average speed zone "would potentially save lives and start making people more aware of their speed and their driver behaviour."

Cllr Michael Shannon welcomed the motion as "an interim solution until such time as such the road is upgraded to a motorway status", stating his belief that it is "well over due to be done."

He explained that: " There's no point having 100 kph and people coming onto a semi-motorway experience directly onto the road. I do believe that the motorway network in Ireland you can't have variations in a clear motorway and the volume of traffic that is on that road and increasing all the time due to population increase and industrial activity - we do need to make that stretch of road safer and bring it up to the standard  motorway."

Sinn Fein councillor Tommy Guilfoyle branded Clare as "the poor cousin" when it comes to issues such as these, stating that "we need a system of that calibar to see what is going on in that stretch of road" due to "the amount of accidents" occurring he emphasised that the council needs to "urgently implement the system."

Cllr O'Gorman thanked his fellow councillors for their support on the matter and reiterated to the chamber his hope that "the TII will listen to us on this one" as when there is a collision on the N18 or M18 it not only affects that road but also causes "mayhem" in every town and village in it's vicinity with "99 times out of a 100" resulting in another "crash" elsewhere due to "people trying to get away from the initial crash."