April Fools' speed trap has serious message for rogue drivers

A near life-size cut-out of a Garda car with a fake speed gun pointing from the window on the main N5 Castlebar to Dublin road yesterday, in a road safety initiative organised by Mayo County Council.
Photograph: Photograph: Michael McLaughlin

THOUSANDS OF motorists on a major west of Ireland road were yesterday duped by an April Fools' joke with a serious message - a life-size cardboard cut-out of a Garda car with a speed gun poking from its window.

The novel initiative was undertaken by Mayo County Council, with the support of local gardaí, to bring attention to the need for safer driving.

Speeding motorists were only fooling themselves, said Noel Gibbons, Road Safety Officer at Mayo County Council.

The local council, with Garda permission, organised for a photograph of a speed trap to be printed up to "almost life-size" and pasted on to a sheet of cardboard.

"It's really working," said Mr Gibbons yesterday. "You can see the brake lights go when they spot it."

The whole project cost about €200 - considerably less than the cost of a Garda and car.

"We're not trying to replace a Garda car," said Mr Gibbons. "We're just trying to highlight the problem of speeding."

Three motorists have died on Mayo roads so far this year, while nine people were killed last year.

Mr Gibbons said the cut-out was modelled on similar schemes in Australia and Germany.

"But the point we were trying to get across is that when you speed, you are putting yourself and others at risk. It's not just about avoiding penalty points for speeding, it's about driving safer at all times."

The cut-out was placed on the N5 roadway linking Castlebar and Swinford, one of the busiest roads in the west.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times