DUBLIN — 22 August 2026 — The Journal reported at 5.07pm on Friday 21 August that the RSA had published advice for drivers who encounter a vehicle travelling towards them in the wrong direction — after telling the same paper earlier in the week that it had “never developed any guidance” and was “not in a position” to offer it. The RSA says the document went up on Thursday 20 August. It sits as a link at the bottom of the RSA Motorway Safety page. odo.ie has checked that PDF against the Rules of the Road, because the useful distinction is this: the encounter list is new; the “do not turn or reverse” line for a driver who has already gone the wrong way is not.
What the RSA actually says
The live document is Emergency Advice: Encountering a Vehicle Travelling in the Wrong Direction. It covers two situations. Quote the lists; do not merge them with haulage-industry advice published earlier in the week.
On concentration, the RSA’s general line: stay alert; look as far ahead as possible; expect the unexpected; if unsure about a situation ahead, reduce speed; never let familiarity with a motorway cut your concentration. Extra care approaching exits and slip roads, because a wrong-way vehicle may enter that way.
If a car comes at you — RSA steps
“If you encounter a vehicle travelling towards you in the wrong direction on a motorway,” the RSA says:
- Stay calm and avoid any sudden or dangerous manoeuvres.
- Create as much space away from the oncoming vehicle as possible.
- If the immediate danger has passed, continue your journey.
- When it is safe to do so, leave the motorway and pull into a designated parking area or motorway service area.
- Call the Gardaí on 999 or 112 and report the wrong-way vehicle.
- Give the motorway and your direction of travel and, if possible, the vehicle’s location and a description — plus anything else that may help Gardaí identify or locate it.
- Once you have reported the incident and the immediate danger has passed, continue only when it is safe to do so.
The Journal asked what “create as much space” means. An RSA spokesperson: it depends on the situation and where the oncoming vehicle is. “Some of these are driven on the hard shoulder and in such a situation the advice would be to move to either lane two or three away from the ‘wrong way’ vehicle. By slowing down you are also giving yourself more time and space to anticipate and complete the manoeuvre safely.”
If you are the wrong-way driver — RSA steps
“If you accidentally find yourself driving against the flow of traffic,” the RSA advises:
- Pull into the hard shoulder immediately and stop.
- Do not attempt to turn your vehicle.
- If it is safe to do so, leave the vehicle using the doors on the side away from the traffic.
- Move yourself and your passengers to a safe place behind the crash barrier, well away from the motorway lanes and hard shoulder.
- Call the Gardaí on 999 or 112.
- Wait for help in a safe place.
If it is not safe to leave: remain inside, seatbelt on, hazard lights on. Then the line that matters: “Do not attempt to correct the situation by turning, reversing or continuing against the flow of traffic.” Missed your exit? Continue to the next one. Never reverse or attempt to turn around on the motorway.
The hard-shoulder / don’t-turn / 999 core was already in the RSA Rules of the Road (law as at 1 March 2025) and the 2018 motorway booklet. The new PDF adds the traffic-away door, waiting behind the barrier, and staying belted with hazards if you cannot get out.
What RSA said last week — and what changed
On Tuesday 18 August, RSA head of communications David Martin told The Journal: “This kind of crazed criminal behaviour that we saw at the weekend, what advice can you give? What can you say?… It’s an impossible situation.” A follow-up email said the RSA had “never developed any guidance for drivers who may encounter vehicles driving towards them on the wrong side of the road.” A spokesperson said the authority was “not in a position” to offer advice.
The next day The Journal reported that Minister of State for Road Safety Seán Canney had contacted the RSA over its lack of visibility after the M9 collision — “uncomfortable,” “not happy,” and wanting a road-safety message in the initial statement, which had offered sympathies and said the agency would not comment further because the collision was under investigation.
Friday’s RSA line, to The Journal: “Following on the weekend tragedy in Kildare, the RSA has this week published advice for people who encounter vehicles travelling in the wrong direction on motorways. It was published yesterday on the RSA website.” The paper said the advice had not been promoted on RSA social channels. Asked whether it would be, a spokesperson said it would be shared through public information channels, and that “education teams have also been briefed and will incorporate these messages into their ongoing programmes.”
Social Democrats transport spokesperson Aidan Farrelly told The Journal he was “surprised” and “disappointed” that RSA had no advice and “gave no indication that they would be working with colleagues in different jurisdictions to develop advice.”
The M9 context — attributed, tight
Around 3am on Sunday 16 August 2026, on the M9 northbound between Junctions 3 and 4 at Moone, Co. Kildare, a vehicle travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway hit a second car head-on. Five teenage boys in one car died. Four people in the other — three women and a seven-year-old boy, per RTÉ’s Garda hospital list — were seriously injured. Gardaí said no pursuit was taking place when the collision occurred. The matter was referred to Fiosrú.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly called it a “horrific incident” of “irresponsible and dangerous driving,” said the injured family “were travelling innocently,” and linked wrong-way driving to social-media “likes.” That is the commissioner’s framing. odo.ie is not going to reconstruct the crash from unsourced “officers believe” lines. The reason this PDF exists is that the crash happened and, for several days, Ireland’s road-safety body had no public checklist for the driver coming the right way.
Gardaí, IRHA, the minister — not this PDF
Asked on Monday for official advice if you meet a head-on wrong-way driver, An Garda Síochána told The Journal: “All drivers are aware that it is an offence to drive the wrong way on the motorway and know not to do it.” That restates the offence. It is not a driving drill.
The IRHA filled the vacuum for its members before RSA published. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said gardaí would be given vehicle-pursuit training this year, and that a standalone offence for deliberately driving the wrong way on a motorway “will have to [be] consider[ed].” He described that behaviour as “using a vehicle as a weapon.” That is a proposal to consider, not enacted law. Driving against the flow is already an offence.
Irish motorway rules you should not mix up
Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997, Article 33(1)(a): a driver on a motorway shall not drive against the direction of traffic flow. Also prohibited: driving on a non-carriageway part of the motorway (the hard shoulder) except as provided; stopping or parking except breakdown, accident, emergency or Garda direction.
Rules of the Road, motorway section: “You must only drive ahead. No turning or reversing is permitted.” If you find yourself driving against the flow: pull in immediately to the hard shoulder and stop; contact Gardaí; do not attempt to turn; wait for help in a safe place. If you miss your exit, continue to the next.
Penalty-point figures in that Rules of the Road edition (law as at 1 March 2025): driving against the flow on a motorway — 2 points on fixed-charge payment / 4 on court conviction; €80 / €120. Driving on the hard shoulder on a motorway — 1 / 3 points; €80 / €120. Treat those as the RSA-published schedule as of that edition.
RSA’s new advice is not a licence to reverse, U-turn, or treat the hard shoulder as a running lane. It is also not a confirmed copy of the UK Highway Code: Rule 263 already matches Ireland’s existing must-not-reverse / next-exit rules. It does not publish this encounter checklist. Do not import US “move right” advice — that is right-hand traffic.
Motorway miles still need a log
Keep NCT, tax and insurance dates in one place — free for one car — so the admin is not the thing you are thinking about at 120 km/h.
Sources
- The Journal (21 August 2026, 5.07pm) — Jane Matthews and Daragh Brophy; RSA publication after saying it had none
- RSA — Motorway Safety page and the live PDF Emergency Advice: Encountering a Vehicle Travelling in the Wrong Direction (RSA said published 20 August)
- The Journal (18 August) — David Martin “impossible situation”; RSA “never developed any guidance”; Garda restatement of the offence; IRHA member advice
- The Journal (19 August) — Minister of State Seán Canney’s contact with the RSA
- RTÉ / The Journal (16 August) — M9 Moone crash: time, location, casualties; Gardaí: no pursuit at impact; Commissioner Kelly
- RSA Rules of the Road (law as at 1 March 2025) — drive ahead only; hard shoulder; missed-exit rule; penalty-point tables
- Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997, Article 33 — against-flow offence
- Irish Examiner — Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan on considering a separate deliberate-wrong-way offence