THE ROAD SAFETY Authority (RSA) has been receiving dozens of letters from the public pleading to lower speed limits and warning about the inevitability of serious accidents. Complaints included “boy racers” speeding through a town centre, “lethal” overtaking on continuous white lines, and a narrow lane that was more like a “racetrack.” Others said there had been a noticeable rise in dangerous driving since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. The letters come against the backdrop of another depressing week on Irish roads, with multiple fatalities reported by gardaí over the past seven days. In one email, a person wrote of having recently moved into a quiet lane with one way traffic and a cycle track. They wrote: “I have witnessed cars speeding in excess of 50 kilometres per hour just feet from young families and myself. “I have to presume the limit is 30km/h but even that is excessive given the distance to both people and pets. The road also hosts ice an cream outlet which attracts many young families to the area.” Another wrote of having to take their life into their hands in one village in Dublin where there were no safe spaces for pedestrians to cross. “There is not one sign indicating the 30 kmph speed limit and no traffic calming measures in place to force people to slow down,” they said. “It’s just one big, long open road, making it easy for people to speed.” One person said “boy racers” were speeding through the centre of their town and driving up the wrong side of roads. An email said: “They do this showing off in front of people. Their behaviour driving on the roads is very dangerous. Advertisement “I have reported it to the local guards here but unfortunately for some reason they don’t seem to be too bothered about it; nearly saying what can they do about it.” Another said they felt like every car journey was taking a risk with speeding, people on phones, and not paying attention. Their message said: “In the past four months I have had three novice drivers back into me while I am stationary in traffic. “Each time the weather has been wet. I am not sure if they are unable to judge the stoppage time for a car when the roads are wet, or if they are on their phones or whatever.” One person wrote of having three near misses in a short space of time where cars came careening around corners and crossing over into the other lane. They said: “Something drastically needs to be done, or we will continue to see road deaths increase. “As stated above, I drive the motorway five days a week twice a day and I never come across any [gardaí] whatsoever.” A school traffic warden wrote of their difficulties with bicycles, e-bikes, and scooters speeding through while kids were crossing. An email said: “[They are] violating the rules of the roads every day and endangering both me and school children. “It is impossible to report such crimes because there is no way of identifying these criminals as they do not have a registration number, and my hands are full with a stop sign and using my body to protect children.” Asked about the records, the Road Safety Authority said managing speed was one of the most effective ways to reduce fatalities and serious injuries. A spokeswoman said: “Setting speed limits that are appropriate for the type of road and their use is an internationally recognised, best practice approach to achieving ambitious reductions in road user fatalities and serious injuries.” She said the RSA had welcomed the introduction of the default 60 km/h speed on many rural local roads earlier this year and that there was strong public backing for this. A survey from November last year showed that 60% of motorists consider rural local roads to be unsafe and the same number supported reduced speed limits.