There is a lot of confusion online about the reduction in speed limits on local and rural roads from tomorrow, a transport expert has said.

On February 7th, the default speed limit on most of the country's local roads will drop from 80 km/h to 60 km/h.

The change was introduced as part of the Road Traffic Act 2024, which seeks to cut the number of deaths on Ireland’s roads.

On The Pat Kenny Show, the Sunday Independent’s motoring editor Ger Herbert said there is a lot of confusion online about the speed limit reduction.

“Over the last week there's obviously been a lot of outrage about the idea of reducing speed limits, particularly on social media,” she said.

“I think there's a lot of confusion about what actually is happening tomorrow and I'm not sure people realise we're literally talking about rural local roads.

“These are roads that link communities - the roads that are designed for walkers and cyclists and for kids to be able to get to school.

“This is not a reduction across the road network in Ireland.”

Gardai at the scene of a road crash at the Ballynacarry Bridge on the N53, Co Monaghan. December 1, 2022. Image: Liam McBurney/Alamy

Ms Herbert said the reductions coming in tomorrow are completely different from reductions due to come in later this year.

“The later reductions, which are probably going to be even more controversial, the 30 km/h in built up areas and the national and secondary roads being reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h is going to happen later in the year,” she said.

According to Ms Herbert, new road signs are ready and in place ahead of tomorrow.

“In all the communication from the Government on this, apparently, the local authorities will have the road signs in place,” she said.

“They're simply replacing on the roads that are going to be changed - replacing 80 km/h speed limits with eight with 60 km/h speed limit signs.

“Now I do notice in my own area they're masked out - there's like black refuse sacks over the new speed limits ready to go in, so they are in place and ready.”

The Coast Rd in Baldoyle closed while Gardaí are investigating a serious road crash as the coast road in Baldoyle. 17.07.2024. Photo: Sam Boal Collins Photos

In regards to people claiming the only way to have less road deaths is to ban cars, Ms Herbert said there is an in-between.

“The fact of the matter is we have a choice - the choices in life are not [just] doing nothing or banning, they're somewhere in between,” she said.

“If you go back to 1978, 627 people died on our road and that was at a time when we had much less cars and we had a smaller population.

“But the enforcement of wearing seat belts, safer cars, motorways, better road design, stricter drink driving laws has made a huge difference to this.

“Sensible policies based on actual evidence have made a huge difference to the number of people dying on our roads.”

Ms Herbert said the impact of reducing the speed limit on local road is huge for head on impacts and for making roads “more liveable”.

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Garda-National Slow Down Day. 28/8/2015 Photo: RollingNews.ie