Gardai target cyclists with €750 fine as Dublin speeding hotspots revealed

A new two month Garda blitz to make the roads of Dublin safer will involve the targeting of cyclists breaking red lights.

A senior Garda officer leading a blitz on errant road users in Dublin over the next two months has warned that cyclists breaking red lights will be targeted.

Chief Supt Aidan Reid of the Garda Traffic Corps said the issue of road users, not just cyclists, breaking red lights in the city was a major one that would be cracked down on during the Safer Roads for Dublin campaign that will run until the end of November.

However, he specifically reminded cyclists the penalty for breaking lights was up to €750, saying there could be no complacency.

The new campaign will involve greater enforcement by the Garda, as well as the force and organisations such as the Road Safety Authority and local authorities urging road users to change their behaviour and take responsibility for their own actions.

Gardai will also hand out free high visibility clothing and lights to cyclists during the new clampdown.

Gardai will be most active between 7am and 9.30am and between 4pm and 7pm, with Friday afternoons the most dangerous on Dublin roads.

"So far this year in Dublin there has been in excess of 35,000 speeding detections,” said Chief Supt Reid.

"(There have been) over 1,000 drivers arrested for intoxicated driving, 1,800 plus detections for not wearing a safety belt and nearly 7,000 drivers detected holding a mobile phone whilst driving.

“This is not safe driving for you or anyone else around you, and this risk taking will be targeted as part of the enforcement activities for this campaign.”

A clampdown in Dublin will see greater enforcement of road traffic laws, including the targeting of motorists and cyclists running red lights, which can result in fines up to €750.

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Some of the information released as part of the campaign’s launch this morning will be of great interest to cyclists looking to keep themselves safe on the roads.

The Garda has identified the 10 speeding blackspots in the city.

And the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA), which runs the Luas light rail, said the number of cars jumping red lights at some junctions was so high that its drivers had been ordered to stop at the worst junctions to make sure the way was clear even when the lights were in their favour.

The problem of cars jumping red lights has become so acute that the RPA in conjunction with Dublin City Council and the Garda will shortly introduce automated red light running detection on Benburb Street in the north inner city.

A camera that had already been installed there had recorded an average of five vehicles per day breaking the lights. Some were crossing the junction while the lights were against them some 25 seconds after the lights had turned red.

So far some 36,000 motorists have been detected speeding in Dublin. According to gardai, the blackspot areas aree:

Fingal County Council