An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority have announced that 903 new safety camera zones will be operational in the country from Monday, bringing the total number of such zones to 1,322.

Since 2010, An Garda Síochána has contributed to making our roads safer through the use of safety cameras, using a service provider GoSafe to operate them on its behalf. The primary purpose of safety cameras is to reduce speed related collisions, lessen injuries and save lives.

Safety cameras operate in areas where there is a history of speed related collisions, ...

The National Car Testing Service has confirmed that underbody vehicle inspections will recommence in an additional eight centres this week. This follows the delivery and planned installation of new vehicle lifts.

Inspections were suspended temporarily last week amid concerns about the safety of the vehicle lifts used in the test centres.

The centres where these new vehicle inspection lifts are being introduced, which is based on maximising geographical spread and catering for large population centres, include Cork (Little Island), Limerick, Northpoint (...

The new number plate recognition system currently being rolled out by An Garda Síochána will make it “very difficult” for uninsured drivers to go undetected, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland has said.

The new ANPR system, which is accessible via devices known as mobile data stations, allows An Garda Síochána to more easily detect if a vehicle is being driven without insurance by checking the registration plate. Two thousand gardaí are to receive new devices as part of a general release programme, with 544 being allocated in the Dublin region, 484 in the ...

An Garda Síochána and the Road Safety Authority have warned that drug-driving will soon become more prevalent than drink-driving on Irish roads as many motorists continue to underestimate the devastating effects that driving under the influence can have.

Detections for drink-driving have risen significantly in recent years and the assistant commissioner in charge of roads policing, David Sheahan, has said predicted that alcohol will be surpassed by drugs “very shortly”.

Figures released by the RSA show that 68% of drivers with a positive roadside drug t...

Liberty Insurance has confirmed that it will be honouring all of its commitments to existing property, bonds and liability customers, despite its planned exit from the Irish commercial market in April.

The US-owned company joined the Irish insurance market when it took over the main businesses of Quinn Insurance in 2011 but this week it announced its impending exit from the commercial liability and commercial property lines are due to “ongoing issues around scale and profitability” in that particular sector of its business.

Liberty will now be focusing ...

More people died on Irish roads in 2019 than in 2018, the Road Safety Authority has revealed.

The number of road deaths for the past 12 months was 148 which represents a 4% increase on the year before when 142 people lost their lives in crashes.

The year before last, 2018, was the safest on Irish roads since records began.

The RSA say there was a “worrying” increase in the number of drivers who died on Irish roads this past year (25 more than 2018), however on a positive note pedestrian and passenger fatalities have fallen over the same period.

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The Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána have urged parents to not give their children quad bikes for Christmas.

Provisional statistics from the RSA show that there were 50 people killed or injured in collisions involving a quadbike or scrambler on a public road in recent years.

48% of those involved in the incidents were aged 18 or younger.

“It saddens me that we have to again remind parents and guardians of the risks that quad bikes and scramblers pose to children,” RSA Chief Executive Moyagh Murdock said.

“These are vehicles inte...

Insurance News: Referendum on the cards if Fine Gael reforms fail

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has discussed the prospect of holding a referendum to cap insurance payouts.

According to the Irish Independent, Mr Varadkar raised the possibility at a recent Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, although such a referendum would only happen as a last resort if the government’s insurance reforms do not work.

A number of TDs spoke out on the issue at the meeting on Wednesday night.

Criticising those who take out unjustified personal injury cla...