Mother of teenage road crash victim calls for activation of safety measures

THE MOTHER of an 18-year-old student killed in a road traffic crash has called for the Government to activate road safety measures which were approved in this year’s Road Traffic Act.

Donna Price whose son Darren was killed in a collision in 2006 also called for more resources for the Garda, as well as crash victims and their families.

Speaking as details of “World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims” were announced yesterday, Ms Price said the National Rehabilitation Hospital had just 46 beds to cater for those injured across the entire country.

In addition, she said families of those killed in crashes frequently had to wait a long time to find out details of how their loved ones died. She said there were no direct counselling and support services for families and many suffered greatly because of this.

While she said gardaí were doing a good job, she said the Government had not signed into law provisions in the Road Safety Act 2010, which would introduce mandatory alcohol testing of drivers involved in fatal crashes.

Nor has the Government activated provision in the Act to lower the drink-driving limit from 80mgs of alcohol per 100mls of blood, to 50mgs of alcohol per 100mgs of blood.

Ms Price said she and the campaign group Parc were calling on the Government to provide gardaí with recalibrated equipment to enable mandatory testing, as well as to enact the reduced limits.

Parc – Promoting Awareness, Responsibility and Care – will be joining the Garda, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and emergency services at events across the country on Sunday, to mark World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims.

Gay Byrne, chairman of the RSA said the day offered a chance to remember victims, but also a chance to remember how “in a split second everything can change – that is all it takes for tragedy to happen on our roads”.

He said it was shocking that an estimated 50 further lives would be lost on the roads between now and year end. “World Remembrance Day remembers not only the people who have died on our roads, but the other preventable tragedies that will happen before the end of the year.”

The Department of Transport confirmed yesterday that new or recalibrated equipment for blood testing is not expected to be in force before September 2011.

The department said once the preferred equipment had been selected, a “significant amount of testing would be required”. A detailed training programme for An Garda Síochána in the use of the instruments is also to be undertaken.