Speed limit argument hears about ducks, drunks and bumps in the road

If speed limits in Mayo are all reduced across the board then drivers will be lined up like ducks in a row according to Kilmeena-based councillor, Johnny O'Malley.

Speaking at the September meeting of Westport Belmullet Municipal District in Carratigue, Cllr O'Malley said all of society must work together to reduce road deaths but unilaterally reducing speed limits will not achieve this ambition.

“Don't bring down every road to 60 km. If the lads in Dublin do that they'll have everyone lined up like ducks and someone will then try and pass the line of ducks and there will be even more danger than there currently is. Please use common sense.”

O'Malley's words were backed up by Cllr Gerry Coyle who said cutting speed limits with the swipe of a pen would be “absolutely crazy.”

“It's a tragedy what's happening on the roads, but do speed limits have much of an impact on it? I'm not sure they do. If speed limits are reduced everywhere then it will take us six hours to get to Dublin from where we're sitting here in Carratigue. There's a lot more officials could be doing for road safety if they did it. In Glencastle the council hadn't the money to close a drain so that cars could park outside the school for the kids to get into the school safely.

“There are simple ways to slow cars down in villages and urban areas. None of these flashing lights or any of that craic, because it's nonsense. Put a bump in the road. We did it in Geesala and when drivers left a few exhausts after them they slowed down – and believe me, it wasn't young lads that were at it,” Coyle added before saying the waiting time for driving tests is causing a lot of problems in rural Mayo.

“Some of the rules and regulations are crazy. There's a young woman who lives not far from here who works in a hotel in Belmullet. She has a provisional license and is waiting eleven months for the test. How can she get someone to accompany her going and coming to work at two-o-clock in the morning?

“Ironically, if she had a drunk fast asleep in the passenger seat and he had a full license, she's be sound. It's absolute lunacy. This type of thing is driving young people out of our communities because they're so long waiting for the test and need a car to get to work because we live in the country, not in an urban area where you walk or cycle to work.”