The Road Safety Authority and the County and City Management Association are calling on all landowners to cut their hedgerows before March 1 to ensure they are not causing a potential serious road safety hazard.
The authority says overgrown hedgerows and roadside verges can result in road fatalities and serious injury collisions.
They also pose difficulties for pedestrians and cyclists and to trucks and agricultural vehicles carrying loads, especially on local rural roads in the case of sightlines at junctions or obstructions to road signs.
In accordance with the Wildlife Act, the season when cutting hedgerows and verges is between the start of September and the end of February the following year.
Sam Waide, Chief Executive, RSA, says we are calling on all landowners across the country to remember the impact that overgrown hedgerows can have on other road users.
Mr Waide stated that road safety is a shared responsibility, and it is important that landowners remain alert and take accountability for maintaining hedgerows.
On behalf of local authorities, Paddy Mahon, Chair of the City and County Managers association’s Climate Action, Transport and Networks Committee said: We are also calling on members of the public to report road safety issues caused by overgrowth to their local authority which can then contact the landowner.” Roadside foliage and hedgerows can be cut at any time of the year if there is a safety concern but authorities suggest the work be done between September and the end of February to support biodiversity.
