The speed limit on rural, local roads has today changed from 80 km/h to 60 km/h as part of the Government’s Road Safety Strategy and is one of a range of measures intended to reduce fatalities and protect all road users. 

The ‘rural speed limit sign’, which is used as an alternative to numeric speed limit signs on specific single lane rural roads, will now mean that a maximum 60km/h limit is in force. 

As with all speed limits, it will be an offence to exceed the stated limit. The Department of Transport has been working closely with An Garda Síochána, along with other stakeholders, to ensure that the 60 km/h limit is enforced.       

Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said: “Today’s speed limit reduction will save lives, because driving slower saves lives. Driving at a lower speed means that if you get into a collision, either as a driver or a vulnerable road user, death or serious injury is a significantly less likely outcome. It also means you are less likely to be involved in a collision at all. 

“Death and serious injuries on our roads are not inevitable, they are preventable through tangible, sensible measures. This Government is taking action to reduce road fatalities and serious injuries.”

Minister of State at the Department of Transport Seán Canney said: 
“Today’s speed limit change is an outcome of many years of consultation, deliberation and engagement across the system, most notably from the evidence base of the 2023 Speed Limit Review and close collaboration with local authorities who are implementing this reduction.

“This welcome change will give us all safer roads. Systemic changes like today’s speed limit reduction and road safety education – along with enforcement – have helped us significantly bring down road deaths, but in recent years this trend has worryingly reversed. Together we can make our roads safer, by observing the speed limit, driving safely and looking out for one another on rural local roads.”

For more information on speed limits, visit gov.ie/speedlimits. 

The change from 80km/h to 60km/h on rural, local roads is the only change occurring on the road network today. It is not proposed to reduce the speed limit on ‘Regional Roads’ (roads designated with an R followed by a number), which will remain at 80km/hr. 

Future implementation phases will focus on the speed limit in urban cores, which include built-up areas as well as housing estates and town centres, reducing to 30 km/h. The speed limit on national secondary roads is recommended to reduce from 100km/h to 80km/h. Experience from this phase will be used to inform the rollout of subsequent phases on other road categories.