North’s highest speed recorded on the A5

THE Northern Ireland Road Safety Partnership 2023 Annual Report has confirmed that the highest speed recorded on the roads in the North in 2023 was 123mph, which was detected on the A5 Tullyvar Road, a 60mph zone in the Ballygawley area.

Reacting to the shocking statistic, coordinator of The Road Ahead Support Group, Monica Heaney, who lost her son Karl in 2018 when he was 27-years-old to a speed-related road traffic collision, has urged local motorists to slow down.

The Road Ahead Support Group was set up for anyone in the North who has been affected by the death of a loved one on the road. Highlighting the importance of driving responsibly, Ms Heaney said, “From my point of view, people don’t realise just how devastating it can be until it happens to them.

“People can get in their car and easily assume that they are safe, however, what they have is a lethal weapon in their hands.

“Adding speed to that will put themselves and others at risk, so staying safe on the roads is essential.

“This is the message we wish to get across because if they walk in my shoes, or the shoes of anyone else who has lost a loved one on the road, they would know just how devastating it truly can be.”

Further statistics within the report have confirmed that over two-thirds of all speed-related detections were on 30mph roads.

The report also stated that over the last 12 months, the NI Road Safety Partnership made 72,354 detections, with mobile speed cameras accounting for 93 percent of all detections.

A total of 71,915 of those detections were speed-related, with a total of 37,532 drivers completing a speed awareness course, equalling over half of the drivers detected.

Since 2006, there have been more than 50 fatalities on the A5 road, with ten of those taking place between October 2021 and October 2022.

In 2007, plans to upgrade the road with a 58-mile dual carriageway between Derry and the border at Aughnacloy was announced, but has since been faced with legal challenges and issues relating to funding.

It is estimated that the total cost of the upgrade will stand at £1.7bn, with over £500m coming from the Irish government.

If completed, it would be the largest road scheme in the North.

In May last year, a senior official from the Department of Infrastructure stated that he did not foresee any difficulties in funding the project, adding that he was ‘very confident’ that the new road would be completed be 2028.