Rural Ireland Thinks poll: Two-thirds say there is no visible garda presence on roads
Years, Revealed Seven This Trained Officers Stood Missioner Earlier Policing Level In Gardaí At At Lowest Roads Its Harris Number The Drew 623 Of Year
About two-thirds of people in rural Ireland do not believe there is a visible garda presence on the roads, which advocates say shows some road users know “there’s little chance of being caught” if they flout the rules of the road.
An /Ipsos poll of people living in rural Ireland also found a similar proportion of people think there is not enough of a garda presence in their area in general.
Furthermore, just over two in five (43%) of the 500 people surveyed said they had been stopped at a garda checkpoint in the last year.
The spotlight on road safety comes after a devastating few years on Irish roads that have seen fatalities and serious injuries surge.
So far this year, 131 people have lost their lives on Irish roads, an increase of two on the same period last year. Both 2023 and 2024 have shown a marked increase on previous years. In all of 2021, for example, 136 people died on the roads.
During this time, the Road Safety Authority and gardaí have continued to highlight the impact of speeding, not wearing a seat belt and using a mobile phone while driving, as they continue to urge people to take care on the roads.
However, criticism has been made of both organisations for their work to tackle the problem.
In the case of An Garda Síochána, Commissioner Drew Harris revealed earlier this year the number of trained roads policing officers stood at its lowest level in seven years, at 623 gardaí. It is a drop from more than 1,000 roads policing gardaí back in 2009.
Donna Price, founder and president of the Irish Road Victims’ Association, said her organisation shares the concerns rural Ireland dwellers have about visibility of gardaí on the roads.
“This leads to complacency on the part of road users who flout the rules of the road, knowing that there’s little chance of their being caught, and thereby endangering other innocent road users,” Ms Price said.
“Our gardaí must be properly resourced. We are seeing the effect of the roads policing numbers being reduced from over 1,100 to just over 600 now.
“Are we seeing the impact of the directive for each garda being requested to spend 30 minutes daily in roads policing? We can’t see this extra garda visibility on the roads at present, sadly. Maybe if we could, it would make a difference.”
Ms Price added there was a cohort of drivers that “simply don’t care” and effective deterrents should be in place for those who continue to endanger themselves and others on the roads.
Speaking to the during a special new operation targeting distracted drivers earlier this week by driving around in an unmarked HGV vehicle to detect offences, traffic gardaí said they had witnessed all sorts of behaviour from drivers.
This has included seeing some shaving, doing their make-up or even having their dog on their lap while driving.
Garda Sergeant Robert Griffin said it was “like we forgot how to drive” during the pandemic.
“Red lights, mobile phones, speed,” he said. “Everybody’s in a hurry. Nobody leaves on time anymore. You know it’s people fiddling with Google Maps. Nobody plans their journeys before they leave. Driving is like a chore, no longer a skill as such.”
Elsewhere in the /Ipsos poll, there was a split almost down the middle when people were asked to agree drink driving laws were more relaxed in rural areas. In all, 39% agreed with this statement, while 43% disagreed.
According to the poll, women were more likely than men to think attitudes to drink driving are more relaxed in rural areas.