Offaly motorcyclist drove at a whopping 182km per hour on 'Slow Down Day'

Gardai carrying out speed checks for 'Slow Down Day' this week clocked a motorcyclist travelling at an astonishing 182km per hour in a 50 km per hour zone on Church Street in Clara.

The national 'Slow Down Day' operation took place from 7am yesterday (Tuesday) to 7am this morning.

During that 24-hour period, An Garda Síochána and GoSafe detected 1,675 vehicles travelling at speeds in excess of the applicable speed limit.

This represented an average of 70 speeding offences per hour, or more than one every minute.

The Garda press office this morning issued a list of speeding offences that were detected in various parts of the country during the 24 hours, and the motorcyclist's 182km offence in Clara was the highest speed recorded on the list.

Another speeding offence was detected in Kilcormac, where a motorist drove at 73km per hour in a 50km zone on Bridge Street in the village.

In neighbouring Laois, meanwhile, a driver was caught driving at 68km per hour in a 50km zone on the N80 at Main Street, Stradbally.

Speaking at the conclusion of the 'Slow Down Day' operation, Chief Superintendent Michael Hennebry of the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau, said: "I want to once again thank the vast majority of drivers who drive safely within the speed limits.

"Unfortunately we have yet again seen during our ‘Slow Down’ campaign, that there are still a minority of drivers who choose to ignore the legal speed limits and public warnings.

"We will continue to focus on those non-compliant drivers who drive in excess of the speed limit, posing a significant risk to themselves and other road users.

"Please remember that each time a driver exceeds a speed limit it could result in a serious injury or fatal collision. Please continue to support our efforts to reduce road fatalities and serious injuries," he added.