The number of deaths on Irish roads has risen in three out of the last four years, with 188 fatalities in 2016 – a 15 per cent increase. Can this alarming trend be reversed? It will require resolute action, not least by Government giving road safety a higher policy priority. The Garda Traffic Corps, which is meant to enforce road safety law, has been downgraded in recent years: the unit operates with 681 officers, just over half its intended strength.
Less effective enforcement of road safety laws inevitably leads to more reckless behaviour on the roads. Motorists, who feel they are less likely to be tested for drink-driving or booked for speeding or prosecuted for dangerous driving, will have less fear of laws that are not fully enforced. In which case, road deaths will continue to rise.
The provisions of the new Road Traffic Act 2016 should help deter dangerous behaviour on the roads. The Act makes driving under the influence of drugs an offence, deals with uninsured drivers and includes the option of a lower speed limit in built-up areas. But without effective enforcement, road safety laws will continue to be flouted, with more lives lost or blighted by injury.
One particular concern is the sharp rise in in drink-driving arrests last month, with alcohol increasingly seen as a major contributor to the rising number of road deaths. The Road Safety Authority is pressing that those disqualified from driving for serious offences – drink-driving – should have their convictions placed on the public record. Minister for Transport Shane Ross favours a reduction in drivers’ alcohol limit but remains fearful of opposition from rural TDs.
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The latter group and vintners have always vigorously opposed a reduction in blood alcohol limits, claiming that this would be bad for pub business and deter elderly farmers from having a social drink in a licensed premises.
The concerns of publicans and people living in rural areas have to be weighed, however, against the overriding public interest – to ensure our roads are safe for all users and road safety laws are enforced by a full strength Garda Traffic Corps.