A more rigid enforcement of speed limits is about saving lives and is not a money-making exercise, a Garda spokesman said yesterday.
He was speaking after a leaked Garda memo on speeding motorists was aired on the Pat Kenny Show on RTÉ Radio 1. The memo instructed gardaí in the Dublin region to issue fines to people travelling over the speed limit, regardless of the speed.
However, the stricter interpretation will not be confined to Dublin and will be enforced all over the State, the Garda spokesman said. The crackdown would reduce speeding in built-up areas with a 30-mile-an-hour speed limit, he said.
Until now, gardaí have been allowed some discretion in issuing speeding fines. People who exceed the limit by one or two miles have seldom been penalised. Gardaí had the discretion to caution the driver without imposing a fine if the driver was not flouting other road traffic regulations.
However, the memo instructed gardaí that "previous instructions in relation to enforcement thresholds will no longer apply".
The memo referred to the penalty points scheme and said there had been a "considerable reduction" in the speed of vehicles in the 50- and 60-miles-an-hour speed limit areas and "a limited reduction" in the 30-mile speed limit areas.
"Consequently, and with immediate effect, FOS [fines on the spot] notices will be issued to any vehicle driving in excess of the speed limit, irrespective of the speed of the vehicle," the memo said. The new instruction applies to GATSO, the mobile speed detection unit; the fixed cameras on all major routes into Dublin; and the hand-held laser speed detection units.
The memo requested "strict compliance" from gardaí on the issue. It is understood gardaí will still be allowed to use discretion in exceptional cases, for example, where people are being rushed to hospital.
The letter came from the superintendent of the Dublin Metropolitan traffic division at Dublin Castle and was signed by an inspector.
The spokesman said the decision to interpret the law rigidly was taken after figures showed that while people were slowing down in 50- and 60-mile-an-hour zones, they were not slowing to the same extent in built-up areas with a 30-mile-an-hour limit.
More than 100 people - mainly pedestrians - die every year in accidents in built-up areas.
"This is a very serious issue. We are tasked with enforcing the speeding laws," the spokesman said, adding that gardaí made no apology for trying to reduce the number of road fatalities.
He rejected suggestions that the speeding clampdown was an attempt to boost revenues or mask falling detection rates since the introduction of the penalty points scheme.
"I wouldn't accept that at all. This is all about saving lives at the end of the day."
The spokesman also reminded motorists the speed limits are "the maximum limits allowed".
A spokesman for the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said there was no question of any interference by the Minister's Department in the Garda Síochána's operation of speeding rules.
He also highlighted the number of accidents in built-up areas and said lives were being lost because people ignored the speed limits.
The Minister's spokesman pointed out that Mr Brennan had made a commitment to review the adequacy of speed limit signs and he hoped to have only metric signs in place by late 2004 or early 2005.
