Thousands of motorists on a major Mayo roadway were duped by an April fool’s trick with a difference — a life-size cardboard cut-out of a garda with a speed gun faced at the traffic.
The message was clear: “Don’t be fooled — speed kills’’.
The zany initiative was undertaken by Mayo County Council, with the support of local gardaí, to bring attention to the need for driving within the speed limit, with particular focus on speed as the April Bank Holiday approaches.
“The purpose of the cut-out was to let people know the only ones they are fooling when they are speeding are themselves. People might have felt fooled if they slowed down when they saw the speed-gun in the distance, only to find out it was only a cardboard cut-out. Others might have got past it above the speed limit, and felt some relief when it was not a real speed check,’’ said Noel Gibbons, road safety officer with Mayo County Council.
“But the point we were trying to get across is that when you speed, you are putting yourself and others at risk. It’s not just about avoiding penalty points for speeding, it’s about driving safer at all times. We also want to create a safer environment for other road users such as cyclists and pedestrians to encourage smarter travel.”
“Almost 200,000 people got speeding fines in Ireland last year. We would like to reduce the figure in County Mayo because speed plays such a major role in causing collisions on the road,” said Superintendent Willie Keaveney of Garda Headquarters Castlebar.
They say that you can only be in one place at any one time but these cut-outs of Garda Emma Conneely of Castlebar Traffic Corp were placed on the N5 roadway linking Castlebar and Swinford and the Westport to Castlebar road - two of the busiest roads in the west. It is all about raising awareness. We can all play our part in reducing fatalities and serious injuries on our roads.
The cut-outs will be followed by VMS signs displaying the text “Don’t be fooled - speed kills.”
