In the first of a two part series on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, reporter Sally-Ann Barrett went to a local village in Co Galway to hear the impact that speed on regional roads is having on vulnerable road users.
So far this year 130 people have died on Irish roads, with the highest number of fatalities occurring in Co Tipperary where 14 people have lost their lives.
Concerns over the increasing loss of lives on roads in the west of Ireland is now growing, with 12 deaths in Co Galway so far this year and 11 fatalities in neighboring Co Mayo.
Additional hours for GoSafe vans and next year's planned reductions to speed limits are just some of the measures being introduced to try to reverse the worrying trends.
At Coldwood National School, Craughwell, Co Galway, concerns are mounting that a serious incident will occur.
The school has 98 students and an adjoining pre-school. It is located on a busy regional road linking Craughwell to Oranmore, where the speed limit is currently 80km/h.
Aaron Rooney, a student, said that he has experienced a near miss outside of the school.
Aaron said: "A lot of cars come by and they go very fast."
"One time, an incident, was when the whole school were crossing for a school tour and me and my friend were crossing the road, but the driver didn't slow down and he nearly hit me and my friend," he said.
"But me and my friend just ran over in time," he adds.
Parents are also concerned about the current dangers.
Paula Ruane, who has two children attending the national school and one attending the preschool, is worried there will be a tragedy.
Ms Ruane said: "Every morning we do take our lives in our hands, crossing the road."
"Even with the alert there and the light, nobody takes notice of the slow down children crossing sign and they just zoom on," she said.
Aaron Rooney's mother Sarah Seymour shares those fears.
"You'll find cars are coming and they'll see us passing or bounce across and they'll swerve and not see the car that's going to turn into the school," she said.
Last May, Rena Kieran was involved in an incident while waiting to turn into the school to drop off her seven-year-old daughter Fiadh.
"Just out of nowhere there was a bang on the side of the car," Ms Kieran said.
"Moments later there was a second bang, we were thrown forward. Now luckily enough, there were no injuries, but Fiadh was in the back of the car," she said.
"It had happened on her side. We were so shocked and Fiadh was shocked. We were all over the place," she added.
As a result of the safety concerns, principal of Coldwood National School Karen Jackson has been campaigning for something to be done for a number of years.
"We've engaged with the council, the guards, the local councillors," Ms Jackson said.
"Not that any individual isn't trying, but we still have no results to date. Road improvement signs were put up two years ago, actually before Covid, and we are getting a limited speed limit in the offing, so I'm told," she said.
"It should be in place by next year. My difficulty is that in the middle of this or in the interim, what's going to happen? There is going to be an accident. We witnessed several car accidents outside the school and umpteen near misses with pedestrians," she added.
It is hoped that physical traffic calming measures to slow down drivers approaching Coldwood National School could be introduced.
But Ms Jackson said that she is finding it difficult to progress the introduction of such a measure.
"The message I'm receiving all the time is that traffic calming is a huge expense," she said.
"I do not think you can possibly put any kind of price tag on somebody's life, " she added.
The village of Craughwell is about three miles away from Coldwood National School.
In June, Galway City Council conducted a weeklong speed and traffic survey which found that 85% of the 45,000 vehicles that entered the village had exceeded the 60km/h speed limit.
The results of this survey are now being used to campaign for measures to protect cyclists, pedestrians and other drivers.
There are calls for greater enforcement of the speed limit and the introduction of traffic calming measures that could make it more difficult to drive at speed through the densely populated village.
Fine Gael TD Ciarán Cannon said he believes the prevalence of drivers breaking the speed limit in Craughwell is an experience being replicated across the country.
Mr Cannon said: "If you were to put a similar device, I would argue, at the entrance to every town and village in Ireland you would see similar statistics around the breaking of our speed limits."
"85% of people passing through here every day exceed the speed limit, putting peoples' lives at risk and putting children at risk. That is the experience," he said.
Part two of this series will be on tomorrow's episode of Morning Ireland in which the focus will be on Co Mayo where concerns over the impact of road design on the county's road safety record are being highlighted.
