GARDAÍ and Limerick’s local authority have announced a joint initiative to make roads safer across the city and county.
The newly launched Limerick Road Safety Plan will see Gardaí and Limerick City and County Council unite in a “comprehensive initiative aimed at enhancing road safety throughout our community”.
The initiative was developed in collaboration with the Limerick Road Safety Working Together Group (comprising representatives from the council, Gardaí, emergency services, and community organisations) and outlines “strategic actions to reduce collisions and fatalities on Limerick’s roads”.
This comes after a number of deaths of Limerick roads in recent times, among them 14-year-old Savannah Calvert who was killed when she was hit by a car on Bank Place in Limerick City in August of last year.
The new Limerick Road Safety Plan, with a remit spanning to 2030, is aligned with the government’s Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 and has a commitment to ‘Vision Zero’ – a striving for zero road deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 2050.
Key aims of the plan include creating safer road environments, improving cooperation among agencies, promoting responsible road user behaviour through education and awareness, and supporting national road safety objectives.
Limerick Garda Chief Superintendent Derek Smart said the plan “is aimed at enhancing road safety initiatives whilst also educating road users in all aspects of road safety and ultimately reducing fatalities and serious injury collisions on our roads”.
Mayor Gerald Mitchell described the plan as ”a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to prioritise road safety”.