Driver caught speeding away from garda checkpoint in ‘Slow Down’ campaign

A motorist who was penalised for speeding received a second penalty notice for speeding away from a garda checkpoint.

Waterford gardaí were surprised to see a motorist travelling at 112km/hr in an 80km/hr zone during the bank holiday weekend ‘Slow Down’ campaign.

But they were even more surprised when the motorist, having been issued with a fixed charge penalty notice, was seen and found to be speeding again as they left the traffic stop. The second time they had built up to 101km/hr before they were stopped by the gardaí and issued with a second, fixed charge notice.

Waterford Roads Policing Unit published the details on its Twitter account, which drew a congratulatory response from voluntary road safety body Promoting Awareness Responsibility and Care (Parc).

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Park pointed out the two fixed charge penalty notices could amount to six penalty points, or 10 points if convicted in court. If the driver had two existing penalty points, they would hit twelve points and and be automatically banned.

But, as Parc also pointed out, if the driver was a learner, novice or professional driver, they could be automatically disqualified, for six months on reaching just seven points.

In total, An Garda Síochána and GoSafe checked 192,333 vehicles and detected 419 vehicles travelling in excess of the applicable speed limit.

Included were drivers doing:

* 114km/hr in a 60km/hr zone on the N62 at Clongower , near Thurles, Co Tipperary

* 135km/hr in a 100km/hr zone on the N7 at Brownsbarn, Dublin 22.

* 116km/hr in a 80km/hr zone on the M50 at Kilmore Beg, Dublin 17.

* 112km/hr in a 80km/hr zone on the R738 at Growtown, Upper Barntown, Wexford

* 155km/hr in a 120km/hr zone in Louth

Superintendent Tom Murphy of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau said significant progress had been made by society in terms of behaviour on the roads, and while he thanked “the vast majority of drivers” who drove safely , he was critical of those who put lives at risk. “This needless loss must stop. Unfortunately there are still a number who continue to break the law and drive excessively, An Garda Síochána will continue to focus our enforcement efforts on these motorists as we strive to reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on our roads, ” he said.