Speed Limits On Rural Roads Decrease From February 7th

Speed limits will decrease from 80km/h to 60 km/h on rural roads around the country from tomorrow February 7th.

The change is part of the governments ‘Slower Speeds, Safer Roads’ initiative.

Following the announcement they outlined the reason for the new reduced limits:

“This change will make Ireland’s roads safer for motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, and all road users.”

“Reducing speed can significantly increase the chance of survival in the event of a traffic collision, and lowering speed limits on Ireland’s road network will save lives.”

New speed limit signs will replace existing ones to reflect the change. The meaning of the Rural Speed Limit sign (a white circle with five diagonal black lines) will change from 80km/h to 60km/h as well.

Later this year the speed limit in urban cores, which include built up areas as well as housing estates and town centres, will reduce to 30km/h.

The speed limit on national secondary roads will also be reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h.

In the period between 2006 and 2021, there was a strong downward trend in the number of fatalities on our roads – falling from 365 fatalities in 2006 to 132 in 2021, which was our safest year on record.

This was followed by two successive years of increase where fatalities rose from 132 in 2021 to 180 in 2023 (+36%).

While initial reports for 2024 show a small decline in fatalities compared to 2023, the recent trend has raised concerns about reaching Government Road Safety targets.