George Lawlor demands fairness at Glenmore speed camera
George Lawlor addresses road safety and raises concerns about the static speed camera at Glenmore in County Kilkenny. He argues measures have reduced road deaths and asks the Minister to intervene on signage fairness.
Road safety record
George Lawlor outlines recent progress in road safety, noting that 2018 recorded 138 road deaths - the lowest in modern times - compared with 628 deaths in a single year four decades earlier. He credits enforcement, seatbelt use and drink-driving measures for the improvement and stresses that targeted investment saves lives.
Support for cameras
Lawlor says static speed cameras are an essential part of any road-safety camera strategy and that when resources are put into combating road deaths, they work. He affirms the need to continue using technology to protect drivers and communities.
The Glenmore signage problem
He raises a specific concern about the Glenmore speed camera in County Kilkenny: drivers enter a 100km zone, see an 80km sign, but have insufficient distance to slow safely before the camera. Lawlor warns that hundreds, possibly thousands, of otherwise safe drivers have been penalised with points.
Call for intervention
While welcoming the camera as an important safety measure, Lawlor asks the Minister for personal intervention to resolve the signage issue and ensure fairness for drivers with clean records. He frames the request as a practical step to balance safety with reasonable enforcement.
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Thank you very much. With your blessing, can I welcome the boys and girls from Castlebridge National School in Wexford, a historic place in Wexford. In fact, the Castlebridge team were the first team to win the All-Ireland in Wexford Hurling, and you, being a Kilkenny man, will no doubt look on with envy at that. Minister, the measures that were taken over the years in relation to road safety were working. If we look at the figures for 2018, we tragically had 138 road deaths. That was the lowest in our modern times. If we roll back 40 years before that, the number of people killed on Irish roads 40 years before that was 628 people in one year. And I speak of these tragic figures to indicate to you that the measures that were taken, and bringing the people along with us in terms of enforcement, in terms of seatbelt use, in terms of drink driving and safety measures, were working. So when we put the resources in to combating deaths on our roads and to improving road safety, they actually do work. So in the context of road safety camera strategy, it's essential that we roll out static cameras. I want to raise again, however, and the last Councillor will be familiar with this, the static camera in Glenmore in County Kilkenny, which is causing huge turmoil for thousands of people. You're in a 100km zone, you arrive at an 80km speed sign, and you do not have time to slow down safely and correctly before the camera is right on top of you. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, the safest of drivers, have been caught and given points. And people are coming to me and saying, it's not so much the fine that's breaking their hearts, these are people with unblemished licences that are now being issued with points. Can I ask for your personal intervention on this? It's a signage issue. The camera is very welcome. It's a signage issue and the road is dangerous, but we need to give people fairness in this arena. Thank you very much László and Córdova.
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