The Road Safety Authority (RSA) is calling on landowners to cut their hedgerows by the end of the month to ensure they are not causing a road safety hazard.
Under the Wildlife Act 1976, hedge-cutting is prohibited from 1st March to 31st August, except in cases where overgrowth poses a road safety hazard.
The RSA maintains that properly maintained hedges ensure vulnerable road users are not forced onto the road by overgrown hedges.
It additionally affords motorists a clear view of what is in front of them or around a bend, especially on rural roads in the case of sightlines at junctions or obstructions to road signs.
Co. Cavan councillor, Winston Bennett told Northern Sound that there has been a vast improvement in hedge cutting in recent years.
Cllr. Bennett highlighted that landowners can still cut a hedge at a junction for safety reasons.
He said: "Through health and safety, if there is no view at a verge you can cut that grass. There has been more done on that, especially with the council in Cavan who do a lot of trimming along junctions to leave a clear view.
"We can have all the butterflies and bees and everything that some of these 'do-gooders' want, we all want them. But not at the detriment of someone being killed in a car accident," Cllr. Bennett added.
