Jumping red lights has “become an epidemic” in Ireland due to a lack of enforcement, a leading journalist has claimed.

On The Hard Shoulder today, CompleteCar.ie editor Shane O’Donoghue said it was one of many road rules people break on a daily basis, such as stopping in yellow boxes and using bus lanes.

It comes as 61 people have lost their lives on Irish roads already this year.

Mr O’Donoghue said road safety is paramount and we shouldn’t be “blasé” with rules we don’t think are important.

“The fact there’s not so much enforcement on our roads right now people feel like they’re getting away with them,” he said.

“If you’re getting away with little bits and pieces that cascade into bigger infringements and more dangerous infringements.”

Red lights

Mr O’Donoghue said jumping red lights is “very dangerous” and “has become an epidemic in this country”.

“Earlier today I saw someone not only go through a red light, but a pedestrian light, and caused schoolgoers to stop walking – then they stopped in a yellow box afterward,” he said.

“You can come to a stop at a red light now and the person behind not only has beeped but has gone around you to get through."

A yellow box on a junction in Liverpool. Image: Radharc Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Mr O’Donoghue said cars stopping on yellow boxes and blocking junctions is also a widespread issue.

“I know it’s hard to avoid at times, but other times people just don’t care,” he said.

“In the city centre around commuting time you see it a huge amount and there is no enforcement of it by Gardai.

“Even people who know the rules and feel they should be keeping to them, feel they are under pressure from those behind – people are beeping from behind you for not going forward into a space.”

Bus lanes

Mr O’Donoghue said skipping traffic by using bus lanes is now commonplace around Dublin.

“I see it on the M4 coming out of Dublin around Palmerstown it’s a really bad area for it,” he said.

“There’s a bus lane all along the left and it used to be that a rare car would take the chance and go down it but I would notice it all the time now – lots of cars do it.

“People who never would have thought of doing it are seeing people getting away with it, there being no enforcement, and then they start doing it.”

Mr O’Donoghue noted that cars splashing pedestrians in puddles is also illegal but commonplace as Gardaí never enforces it.

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Main image: Traffic delays on the South Quays in Dublin city centre in March 2023. Image: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie