New Campaign Targets Slow Drivers

A campaign to highlight the dangers caused by slow drivers has been unveiled.

The initiative has been launched by Mayo County Council after it was discovered that almost 7pc of accidents in the county were caused by improper overtaking.

Some of the accidents were caused by reckless overtaking but in other cases the accident resulted from a driver passing particularly slow vehicles.

The aim of the campaign is not for motorists to start going at speeds they are uncomfortable with, but aims to get them to pull in and let others pass.

Mayo Road Safety Officer Noel Gibbons said that those who drove too slowly without considering other road users may be contributing to the high toll of collisions.

"Motorists can experience increased stress levels and heightened irritability when faced with a vehicle driving slower than the rest of the traffic," he said.

"Slow drivers may unknowingly contribute to other motorists making sometimes fatal overtaking manoeuvres. We are asking drivers to regularly check mirrors and be aware of what is behind your vehicle.

"What they should endeavour to do is drive at the speed appropriate to the conditions. If they're not comfortable in doing that, we're not asking them to speed up, we're asking them to give way to following vehicles.

"They must be aware of the tail of vehicles behind them and by ignoring that, they're actually driving without due care and attention. The premise is simple: reduce the need to overtake, and it follows there would be less overtaking collisions."

(H/GK)