AQW 22191/22-27

Mr Andrew McMurray
Alliance Party
South Down

Tabled Date: 07/02/2025
Answered On Date: 20/02/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether she will consider lowering speed limits in Northern Ireland to bring them in line with the new speed limits on rural local roads in the Republic of Ireland.

Answer:

My Department has well established guidance for setting local speed limits in both urban and rural areas and will reduce the speed limits in certain locations where it is considered that there is a need to do so. There are currently no plans to reduce the default speed limit on rural roads, however our approach to speed limits in general is something I intend to consider during my time in office along with looking to find ways to reduce the numbers killed each year on our rural roads. I am aware that the default speed limit on rural local roads with an ‘L’ prefix are changing in Ireland, and my officials will keep in contact with their counterparts in the south on the effectiveness of this change.

Following on from the successful implementation of part-time 20mph speed limits at 216 schools, officials are currently preparing a paper on the use of 20 mph speed limits more widely. I would also like to see what else can be done to improve our attitudes to speeding, not only for road safety purposes, but also to make places cleaner and greener and to help those walking, wheeling, and cycling.

One of the best ways to ensure safety on our roads and fulfil our long-term goal of eliminating death and serious injury by 2050, is by changing road user behaviour, particularly to speeding. As road users we all have a personal responsibility to behave in a way that keeps ourselves and others safe. The sad reality is that if we do not change our own attitudes when we are using the roads, our death toll will continue to increase.