The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has called on landowners to cut their roadside hedges before the closed period comes into effect on March 1 in order to improve road safety.

The RSA made the call along with the County and City Management Association (CCMA), which is the representative of body for county council management.

The RSA and CCMA said hedgerows should be cut in order to ensure they are not causing a road safety hazard.

Cutting hedgerows between March 1 and August 31 is prohibited, except where overgrowth poses a road safety hazard.

According to the RSA, properly maintained hedges ensure vulnerable road users are not forced onto the road by overgrown hedges.

Maintaining hedgerows also allows drivers 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, the RSA said.

Sam Waide, chief executive of the RSA, said that landowners should act now to ensure compliance and avoid "potential enforcement actions" by local authorities.

"Overgrown hedgerows can pose a road safety hazard. We all have a role to play in making roads safer, and landowners must take responsibility. Inaction could endanger lives," Waide added.

Barry Kehoe, chairperson of the CCMA transport, infrastructure and networks committee, said: "Landowners and residents living along public roads have a clear responsibility to ensure that trees and hedges on their property do not create a hazard for people walking, cycling or driving."

Kehoe, who is also chief executive of Westmeath County Council, added: "Overgrown hedgerows can pose a road safety hazard. We all have a role to play in making roads safer, and landowners must take responsibility. Inaction could endanger lives.

"We are also asking members of the public to report any road safety concerns caused by overgrown vegetation to their local authority, whereby we can then engage directly with the landowners where needed," he said.

The Roads Act 1993 places responsibility for the maintenance of roadside hedges on the owners or occupiers of the adjoining lands; while the responsibility for the maintenance of roadside verges lies with the local authority.