Sir, – Further to “Ireland’s speed limits to reduce by 20 km/h on secondary, rural and urban roads under new plan” (News, September 6th), in March 2022, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TIL) reported on the consequences of a broad reduction in speed limits on Irish roads.
Its report estimated that such cuts would have a minimal impact on carbon emissions, would impose costs on the Irish economy of up to €3.8 billion over 30 years due to longer transportation times and, most significantly, would likely lead to an increase of 35 deaths on the roads per year, as many motorists would avoid high-quality, safer, but now slower roads, for more dangerous, but more direct, minor roads.
This is an illustration of the unintended negative consequences of ostensibly positive changes to the law. – Yours, etc,
Dr MICK O’CONNELL,
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School of Psychology,
University College Dublin,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – One of the reasons some of us exceed the speed limit slightly, albeit unwittingly, is not necessarily because we are in a hurry, but because the driver behind is. When a pushy, aggressive driver crowds one’s tailgate, the angry vibrations are palpable, and it is only human nature to try and put some distance between you and him.
Sometimes it takes quite a lot of emotional courage to stick to the strict letter of the law. And this will inevitably be exacerbated when and if the new lower speed limits are introduced. Perhaps increasing the signage, both in size and numbers, would give the abiders of the law more moral support. – Yours, etc,
RODNEY DEVITT,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Why do the solutions put forward to problems in Ireland invariably default to more top-down state control and less freedom for Irish people? I am referring to the dispiriting news that the Government is set to reduce speed limits on Irish roads. Any policy response should start with an acknowledgment that Irish roads are, statistically, among the safest in the EU and, by extension, the world. While the figure of 127 deaths on our roads so far this year is troubling, it should be contextualised against the total figure of 188 for 2013. 20 years previously in 2003, this total was 293. Factored into this should be the surge in car ownership in the past decades; there are now 2.8 million vehicles licensed in Ireland. Given the sensationalist coverage in the media in recent weeks, one could be forgiven for thinking that our roads are becoming more dangerous; but this isn’t the case.
While speed may indeed be a contributor in the majority of road traffic accidents, it seems to this reader premature to draw the conclusion from a spate of recent accidents of which the causes have been neither investigated – much less conclusively proven – that limits need to be drastically reduced. Supporters of this reactionary proposal will probably claim it is no hardship for motorists to drive more slowly but the logical conclusion of this argument is to steadily reduce speed limits to the point that all vehicles travel at a walking pace. This might reduce road traffic accident fatalities to zero but at what cost to a functioning economy? Will gardaí now be redeployed away from making city streets safer for tourists to sitting in squad cars at the side of rural roads pointing speed guns at motorists?
One could level an accusation of opportunism at a Government keen to be seen to “do something”. But this is understandable given we now have a public discourse that places an unrealistic expectation on our politicians to legislate away the risks unavoidably inherent in everyday life – and blames them when this proves to be impossible. – Yours, etc,
PHILIP DONNELLY,
Allenwood,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – International Transport Forum research carried out on behalf of the OECD examined road safety performance in 10 European countries. It concluded that there was a direct correlation between speed and the number of crashes. Its recommendations were a reduction in speed limits on roads and for different types of vehicles.
It also recommended speed limits where people can survive crashes, stricter enforcement, safety upgrades on road infrastructure and speed controls.
A three-year study carried out by the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health on speed reduction to 20 m/ph on 76 streets in Belfast city in 2016 showed that it had little impact on long-term outcomes including collisions, casualties and speed, and really only reduced traffic volume in these streets.
What it did find was lower emissions and better quality of life; in order to reduce crashes or collisions it recommended more driver training, better marketing, social engagement, in-car interventions, more CCTV and police communication and enforcement.
Legislation to reduce speed limits on its own, even with fixed GoSafe vans, and on/off enforcement, will not stop road collisions but a combination of all of the aforementioned might. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTY GALLIGAN,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – I could offer my two-year-old son a box of crayons. Upon assessing the risks, I could implement a set of rules surrounding the use of said crayons. Principally, the living room walls are not to be coloured. I walk away and fail to enforce these rules. How long do you think I have before my living room looks like a poor man’s Jackson Pollock exhibit?
Changing the law means nothing without adequate enforcement of the law. – Yours, etc,
KEITH TANNER,
Clara,
Co Offaly.