Putting speed limiters on cars would be 'a case of the nanny state gone mad', one TD has claimed.
Independent Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae was speaking as Gardaí urged motorists to slow down and to avoid getting distracted by phones or people.
In total, 126 people have lost their lives on the roads this year.
From July 2024, all new cars will have speed limiters under European Union regulations.
Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) will be mandatory for new models on the market and will give manufacturers four options to choose from.
This includes an audio warning to drivers, a vibration warning, or a speed control function.
Deputy Healy Rae told The Hard Shoulder there should be more education around driving but believes limiters go too far.
"I think that would be a case of the nanny state gone mad," he said.
"We have an awful lot of speed vans on the road now in places where there never was before; we've seen the doubling of penalty points, the increase in the fines.
"The Gardaí are doing their job - I really think putting limiters on our cars in certain cases of course it would be the right thing.
"For instance, if a person... is off the road for certain offences, and if a judge says 'Well, you're back on the road, but you have to have a limiter put on to your car'... things like that.
"There would be cases where it might be suitable, or for younger drivers, it might be suitable."
Close up of buttons and dials in a car showing speed limiting technology in April 2019. Picture by: Stephen Davies / Alamy Stock PhotoDeputy Healy Rae said nobody intentionally causes an accident.
"The majority of people do care; the majority of people are conscientious," he said.
"Nobody wants to go out and cause an accident or be in an accident."
Deputy Healy Rae said he believes "wrapping people up in cotton wool" is not the solution.
"For overtaking purposes and things like that, it might be actually the cause of accidents, putting a limitter on," he said.
"At the end of the day, an awful lot has to come back to people's own common sense, people doing the right thing and people being trained," he added.
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