Drivers have been urged to slow down and obey the rules of the road over the Christmas period as An Garda Síochána implemented a national slow down day on Tuesday aimed at reducing road fatalities and injuries.
“We have seen far too many road deaths this year,” said Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, at a press briefing to mark the special road safety exercise.
He said 186 people have lost their lives on the road in 2025, “devastating their families, devastating their communities”.
“I want to ask people to think twice. Let’s work together to make sure no more lives are lost this year.”
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The number of deaths so far in 2025 makes this year the deadliest year on Irish roads since 2014, when 192 people were killed.
Gardaí separately announced on Tuesday that two people, a man and a woman in their 80s, died following separate crashes earlier this month.
An Garda Síochána implemented the nationwide speed enforcement operation as part of its Christmas road-safety campaign.
The majority of road users have a responsible attitude to road safety, but there are a cohort who do not, said Catharina Gunne, assistant commissioner for roads policing and community engagement.
“An Garda Síochána is going to be out in force,” she said.
Distracted driving, including driving when using a mobile phone, is a major cause of road fatalities and injuries, said Sam Waide, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority.
“There is no excuse for using your mobile phone while driving,” he told the media briefing.
“Put the mobile phone in the boot of the car, ignore it, it is not that important.”
Almost half of those who died on the roads so far this year were pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, he said.
People driving vehicles “need to slow down and be aware of vulnerable road users”.
Between December 15th and December 21st, nearly 5,400 drivers have been caught speeding, including a vehicle being driven at 192km/h in a 100km/h zone on the N25 in Kilmeaden, Co Waterford, gardaí said.
The media briefing was held on the N3 flyover beside the Navan Road train station in Dublin. While the short event was taking place, a motorcyclist was stopped driving at 84km/h on the 60km/h stretch of the N3 under the flyover.
By lunchtime on Tuesday, 392 drivers who were exceeding the speed limit on the national slow down day had been stopped, the Garda Press Office said. They included a driver on the North Circular Road, Dublin 7, travelling at 118km/h in a 50km/h zone.
Assistant Commissioner Gunne urged people to act responsibly, never to drive when under the influence of alcohol or drugs, not to speed, to use their seat belts, focus on the road and not be distracted.
Pedestrians and cyclists, she said, should adhere to the rules of the road and make sure they can be seen.
