ONE driver on the M6 motorway near Oranmore set an unenviable record last Friday during National Slow Down Day – clocking up a speed of 161km/h (100mph), the highest recorded in the country.

The motorist was 41km/h over the 120km/h legal speed limit, but Gardaí have stressed that only a tiny percentage of motorists were detected for speeding offences during the slowdown day from over 133,000 checks.

Galway Divisional Roads Policing Inspector, Conor Madden, told the Connacht Tribune that only a fraction of one per cent of motorists checked for speeding across the country by Gardaí were found to be driving over the speed limit.

“The vast, vast majority of drivers who were checked by Gardaí last Friday did not exceed the speed limit which really is very encouraging.

“However, we do continue to encounter a small minority of motorists driving at excess speeds, putting themselves, their passengers and other road users in danger of losing their lives or suffering serious injuries,” said Inspector Madden.

Last Friday, Gardaí checked the speeds of 133,864 motorists across the country with only 179 vehicles detected travelling in excess of the applicable speed limit – percentage wise, this equated to 99.87% of drivers adhering to the limits.

Only three other motorists across Galway city and county were detected driving over the applicable speed limits last Friday – the next highest speed was 112km/h on the N6 Ballybrit dual carriageway which is in a 100kmh zone.

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