Irish Road Carnage- What Can We Do?
October 23rd, 2006Another Monday morning, another weekend of carnage on the Irish roads.
At the same time, we have judges failing to disqualify drivers caught racing at 200kph on the Mullingar bypass while video-taping each other.
We despair about the state of Irish roads, road safety and driving. In particular, young male drivers come in for much criticism. As a young male driver, I fuly accept this criticism is relevant. Events like this weekend show that.
Yes, there are many, many young drivers who drive safely (I’d say easily over 95%), but the statistics do not lie. It is young people who are dying on the roads of Ireland. They are dying every week, primarily at the weekend and almost always at night.
Young people must now stand up and take the lead on this issue. We are killing each other. The Government, The Road Safety Authority and Local Authorities around the Country are doing what they can, but this is an issue that every Irish person needs to get involved with.
It’s time to stand up and be counted. Last week, I made a small contribution to a Highland Radio debate on E-Voting. From that, I got coverage across the Internet, peaking with a piece in the main section of yesterday’s Sunday Times. Without the Internet, I would just be another small-time politician speaking to a local audience.
The Internet amplified my small contribution to that debate. E-Voting is important, but voting machines won’t kill 400 Irish people this year.
What can we do? I’d like to see Irish Bloggers declare this “Stop The Carnage Week”. We each have a voice; this is an issue on which we need to be as vocal as possible. But, if everyone shouts “something must be done” we’ll be no further on than we are today.
Here’s what I’d like to do:
- Write a post on your own blog
- Tag it with “roadsafetyblog“, link to this post or add a comment below with the link
- If you don’t have a blog, you can comment here
- Most importantly, we need your suggestions on how to improve things
- I’ll prepare a report on the submissions, and forward it to the Minister, Taoiseach, Road Safety Authority, Insurance Federation and every member of the Oireachtas.
To get started, here are some of my suggestions:
- When a driver loses their licence, they lose their licence.
Rather than a suspension, as currently happens, the driver is banned from driving for the period and must then apply for a provisional licence, and resit their test, rather than automatically getting their (often clean) licence back. - Permanent Penalty Points
Currently, penalty points expire after three years. I propose two changes - firstly, for serious breaches like Drink Driving, Speeding and Dangerous Driving, penalties points should be permanent. Second, once you have been banned your licence should be automatically loaded with a number of permanent points, related to the reason for your ban. - Zero Tolerance Approach
A few issues really get to me. I believe their should be automatic bans for, among other things, using a mobile phone while driving, drink driving, driving while uninsured and driving without a licence. - Two Strikes, You’re Out
Everyone deserves a second chance, but if someone has been banned from driving, then resat their driving test and returned to the road, their should be no more chances. A second driving ban should see a driver off the road, permanently. - Probation Period & Repeat Tests
The entire system of driver education in Ireland needs to be completely overhauled. Two elements I’d like to see, as part of a new testing system, are a probation period and repeat tests. I believe newly qualified drivers should have all the same rights as other drivers (speed limits, distance, hours etc), but they should be at risk of having their licence revoked on four points, instead of twelve, for the first two years. New drivers should also be tested at least once again after they pass their test, to ensure that at least a year passes before the bad habits form.
I’m not a perfect driver*, and I’m sure there are things I do on the road that would annoy many people as the items above get to me. We all need to be committed to full awareness while on the roads, at all times.
I can’t do this on my own, so any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Drop me an email or a comment if you can help out. I’ve registered roadsafetyblog.com today to co-ordinate and develop this campaign, but it’ll be a few days before that domain is operational.
* I failed my test twice, when I was 17 and 18. First time, I went through an Orange light on the way back into the testing centre. Second time, I was “too cautious” while taking right turns at the New Line Road/Glencar Road junction. I now have my (clean!) licence over five years
Update: In my haste to get this started, I forgot to mention RoadDeaths.ie, the first Irish site to tackle this issue. Their Map of Road Deaths is very chilling.
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47 Responses to “Irish Road Carnage- What Can We Do?”
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October 23rd, 2006 at 1:59 pm
[...] ants to harness blogger power Damien Blake has suggested bloggers have a “Stop the Carnage Week” this week where we share our ideas on what should be done to [...]
October 23rd, 2006 at 2:00 pm
[...] e launched soon as part of a campaign on Road Safety in Ireland. Details are available at: DamienBlake.com If you would like to volunteer to help with this site, please contact me d [...]
October 23rd, 2006 at 2:26 pm
I think the point about driver education is well made. We just don’t do it very well in Ireland, and people blatantly disregard the rules relating to provisional licences on a daily basis. There needs to be proper testing, and in addition people should have to take refresher tests every 5 or 8 years to knock the bad habits they pick up out of them. Also you just shouldn’t drive if you know you’re not very good at it - that’s what I do. A little self-awareness and responsibility would go a hell of a long way.
October 23rd, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Some very good points here Damien. I heard on the radio this morning proposals to reduce the maximum points before a ban is imposed for learner and inexperienced drivers to 6 points. They defined inexperienced drivers as drivers with a full licence for 2 years. I have my car licence about 2 years now so I would just be outside this but I agree with Fiona that you should have to resit the driving test every 5 or so years.
Proper enforcement would go a long way too. Presently, you will more than likely not get caught speeding, overtaking dangerously etc. The likelihood of getting caught should be increased dramatically.
The other day, I was driving through the Lee Tunnel in Cork and a car drove up behind me within a meter or so. A little close for comfort driving at 80kph. Then he (yep, young male driver) passed me out crossing the continuous white line, before crossing back into my lane and undertaking another car. This guy broke the speed limit, crossed a white line twice, undertook a car on the outside lane all in the space of 100 meters or so. These actions collectively should put him off the road for a period but there’s no chance of getting caught.
The Lee Tunnel has recently been fitted with a radio so your reception doesn’t stop while you’re in the tunnel. What we should be doing is adding cameras to enforce safety in there!
October 23rd, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Donal - as with any laws road traffic laws are predominantly dependent on self-enforcement for their success. No law can be enforced against 100% of the people 100% of the time. People have to recognise that road safety laws are there for everyone’s benefit and that we have a natural self interest in actually abiding by them. Unless we internalise that state of mind then even the proposals we’re all coming up with here, which are very good, will only go part way in fixing this problem.
We’ve managed to mostly fix the problem of drink driving by self-enforcement, mutual monitoring and group sanction (i.e. social sanction), and official enforcement. We can do the same thing with speed, which is the primarily killer of people on Irish roads.
October 23rd, 2006 at 3:35 pm
True, but how do you self-enforce speeding laws when some clown is flying around the place? The best thing to do is to stay well clear of them. I’ve tried the whole Traffic Watch thing during the summer which was a complete waste of time.
http://donal.wordpress.com/2006/08/04/traffic-watch-anybody-there/
Some people just really believe that they are above the law and that their driving is perfect. They need to be caught and put off the road. Self-enforcement will not change their attitudes.
I think the main reason behind reduced rates, if they are in fact reduced, of drink-driving is the introduction of random breath-testing without the Gardai having to prove why they were suspicious in the first place. The same thing happened with the introduction of penalty points, when people thought they were going to be caught they slowed down and less people died. You can have all the ads in the world but unless it hurts us in the pocket, we just won’t take heed.
October 23rd, 2006 at 3:38 pm
[...] e Dossing Times on October 23rd, 2006 Read More: Transport Damian Blake is trying to get Bloggers to start having their voices heard about Road Deaths. He says Writ [...]
October 23rd, 2006 at 3:53 pm
[...] 2006
Carnage week
Posted by Branedy under Ireland , Blog
Damien Blake has a Stop the Carnage Week starting today, and I wanted to add my two bits worth. This last week [...]
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:54 pm
My thoughts on the subject
October 24th, 2006 at 12:51 am
Here’s some other sites discussing a similar theme:
Twenty Major (NSFW)
Comments on Mulley.net
EastMeath.org
IrishElection.com
October 24th, 2006 at 5:09 am
Road carnage comes hand-in-glove with community support for the Irish car culture.
Those who commit suicide by mindless speed runs on back roads do not deserve the respect of the community when press coverage documents their deaths.
But in Ireland, editors offer condolences instead of criticisms. Their stupid driving deserves responsible critical commentary.
Until the community reacts with umbrage, Ireland’s car culture will continue growing in numbers and strength.
October 24th, 2006 at 8:30 am
fairplay, this is starting to be recognised as a national emergency, its obviously going to take a combination of things. I like some of what you suggest above.
How about empowering the community by allowing them to adopt their own speed cameras?
Empower the NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard), I wouldnt mind if every inch of road in Ireland was regulated for speed and communities should be able to act on their own - you should be able to apply to the local Gardai for planning permission, they give their advice and then you can bang up a speed camera found by the community or whoever, I dont care…a new generation of Neighbourhood Watch is born…
October 24th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
[...] 24th, 2006 (No views ) Councillor Damien Blake has posted a blog raising the issue of road deaths in Ireland. He makes some interesting points and one in particular. Have a lo [...]
October 24th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
[...] ally Quite Enough for a Space Tourist.
{ 2006 10 24 } Road safety Cllr Damien Blake, Letterkenny Town Council » Irish Road Carnage- What Can We Do? I’ [...]
October 24th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
[...] 0;current” problems with Irish roads and in particular the high incidence of deaths. Damien Blake’s post has given me the extra “push” to post this… As [...]
October 24th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
1. What Bernie said. You drive into a wall at 90kph at 4am with four of your langer mates, and the correct response is not “what a tragedy” but “good feckin’ riddance”. Both for the driver and the dipshits who got in the car with him.
2. Government incompetence is what makes the waiting list for a test 15 months long. The ridiculous waiting list for driving tests is why, uniquely in the civilised world, we let people on provisional licenses drive — even if they just failed the bloody test five minutes ago. Ergo, get the Transport Department to pull their thumbs out of their arses, fix the testing regime and bar anyone with an L plate from ever driving unsupervised.
3. Every single day I’m out walking the dog and I see racer-boy twunts barreling up streets in Cork city centre at 120+kph. There’s no enforcement, and there are no cameras.
4. Every single day I cross a street in this city at a crossing, green man showing, only to get almost run over by some bastard who thinks it’s OK to run a red light if it only went red 4 seconds ago. Again: no enforcement, no cameras. How many people are injured by *this* every year? Plus, I hasten to add, in 80% of cases, the driver’s over 40.
This is one I’d add to Damien’s automatic-ban list: chuck a camera on the junctions and if you’re on Candid Camera without an emergency vehicle in view, you’re getting a €2k fine immediately and five points on your licence. Jumping a red light in a populated area is a premeditated offense, astoundingly dangerous behaviour and that premeditation should attract a concomitantly severe punishment.
October 24th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
[...] apita death rate on the roads. Why is that? Damien Blake asks what can be done to stop the carnage on the roads? Up to this morning 55 sites or posts linked to Damien Mulley’s [...]
October 25th, 2006 at 1:16 am
John,
Thanks for your comments. For some reason your comment was caught by the spam filter here. First legit comment to do so in about a year!
Damien
October 25th, 2006 at 9:52 am
I threw my two cents in at http://gainford.blogspot.com/2006/10/carnage-week.html. I think the big issue is education, there are courses out there, but very little incentive. Hibernian have one but that is only for people with a license less than five years. Aon have one for motorcycles. No other insurance company runs a course or offers a discount to encourage people to learn to drive in a safer manner. From my experience these courses help, they should be more widely avaialable and standardised so that all insurance companies could recognise them.
October 25th, 2006 at 10:17 am
A couple of points about your couple of points.
1: If you take a person’s license from them and force them to get a provisional license and re-sit their test, do you open the govt to legal action from the victims of road accidents. Could they claim, on the basis that you’ve taken someones license from them, that the driving test failed to adequately prepare them for driving?
2: Once a punishment has been served, the record should be cleared. It makes no sense for someone who received penalty points when they were twenty to still be paying increased car insurance when you are sixty. Serve the penalty and that’s it.
3: There is a problem with enforcement if I can drive from Cork to Dublin and back again and not see a single road check or speed check. There is no need for automatic bans, etc, or new legislation. What is needed is the to properly enforce the rules we have now. Too often politicians look to legislation as the get-out clause. It’s cheap, it grabs headlines and you have all kinds of press releases and photo calls, but enforcement is the only way to change habits and behaviours and that requires non-headline grabbing effective governance, which sadly appears to be lacking.
4: There are better options thatn banning someone from driving. If a license has been suspended, put a speed limiter into that persons car when they get their license. Have a monitor placed in their car which will tell you when they are driving, and place restrictions on the times they are allowed drive. Reduce these restrictions gradually over the course of a year or two. In the case of re-offense, have a longer suspension and a longer period of time with the restrictions in place.
5: Probation is a good idea. Make young drivers earn the right to have twelve points. Two years of points free driving should be required before they are able to have the full twelve. That is also something to do with drivers returning from suspended licenses. Once you get back onto the road, your license has a reduced number of points and there are restrictions on how and when you drive. Once the restrictions are lifted, teh full number of points is available.
But the key is enforcement. Without that, politicians can make themselves look important and forceful and active with white papers and green papers and lilac papers or by setting up committees and getting Gay Byrne to be everyone’s scolding grand father, but unless you have gardaà on the road, enforcing th elaws on teh book, it’s not going to make a difference.
October 25th, 2006 at 11:19 am
[...] ndreds of lives that would be saved. A couple of links…. Michele Neylon’s Blog Cllr Damien Blake Filed under: On the road — No Comm [...]
October 25th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
[...] own Council is taking a particularly proactive approach with his ‘Stop the Carnage’ campaign which attempts to use what’s [...]
October 25th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
Damien, dave callan from akamarketing.com here My suggestions are located at the URL indicated in comment 22 on this page.
I will also contact a certain newspaper tomorrow to let them know about this web push, if they’ll be interested or not I do not know.
October 25th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Cheers Dave, any help is much appreciated.
October 26th, 2006 at 11:02 am
No bother Damien, I was just talking to a chap from the star there about five minutes ago, gave him your number and a bit of background about the ‘campaign’, hopefully he will give you some coverage in the paper.
October 26th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
[...] e Irish Insurance Federation, and every member of the Oireachtas. Â RoadSafetyBlog.com and DamienBlake.com have listings of the sites taking place, and there is now a bebo site - ro [...]
October 26th, 2006 at 10:27 pm
[...] ome a very powerful means for change when enough of the community want that change. And so Damien Blake, a Donegal councillor has set out on a campaign to leverage the power of the [...]
October 27th, 2006 at 7:37 am
I’ve heard “the key is in the enforcement” argument since I saw my first garda patrol car in 1994. One of its headlamps was burned out. I realised the Irish police force has other issues that might keep them from enforcing the rules of the road.
I’ve sat through two court cases where I was a police witness for dangerous driving. In both cases, the offense was reduced and the driver stayed on the road. The judiciary has other issues that might keep judges from enforcing the rules of the road.
I’ve worked with people–consultants and day laborers–who have been driving without insurance for as long as they have been waiting for a driving test. There is no shame but if you’re caught without insurance, the penalties are normally more stringent than if you destroy a car in a crash.
I’ve watched national television coverage of this issue and read front page news reporting of speed-related accidents. No one points to the survivors or to the surviving family and asks, “Didn’t you see a pattern of high-speed driving behaviour before this unfortunate accident happened?” Instead, from the pulpit and on editorial pages, we extend sympathies, while often blaming “society” for failing. There is no acceptance of personal responsibility in many of the injury-related accidents I have reviewed here in Ireland.
And worse–the meandering thoughts here mirror what we have recorded year on year in third level podcasting sessions. We ask, “Will you meet the politicians canvassing at your door with a question about road safety?” Most of the third level students give a double-no. Neither themselves nor their parents will decide their first preference vote on the heels of a politician’s road safety response.
I resent being caught in the 100 kph wake of trucks trundling less than a metre away from the path I walk past a national school on a 50 kph road. And life goes on.
October 27th, 2006 at 10:27 am
[...] ckr.com/photos/topgold/139584309/in/set-72057594081874967″>After reading a little from Damien Blake and Jonathan Brazil, we start talking about road safety, take a call from Sim [...]
October 27th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
[...] cil: Tight as a Duck’s Whatsit »
Road Safety Blog
Cllr Damien Blake, Letterkenny Town Council » Irish Road Carnage- What Can We Do? Nice su [...]
October 29th, 2006 at 11:38 pm
Damien, Good to see somebody harnessing the blogosphere for a compaign purpose and I wish you the very best of success with it - I’ll support anything that makes an effort to stop the madness on our roads. However, just to be totally clear on the subject matter, people have to realise that young drivers are not the only problem on our roads. I have facts and figures posted in my blog if anyone wants to check them out (http://www.jbwan.com/weblog/archives/2006/10/things_that_mak_1.html). 77.2% of Irish driver fatalities are over 25 years old. It’s time that we saw an unbiased ad campaign so that we can stop blaming a scapegoat and tackle the real problem of people dying on our roads. A life saved at age 55 is just as important as a life saved at 18…
October 30th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
[...] cts. Reactionary approaches are just too dangerous for my liking. This post is part of the Road Safety drive started by Damien Blake. Whose 5 suggestions I actually happen to agree [...]
October 30th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
[...] George Allen. If you had the resources, what would you do? Anyone want to make one on road deaths? ad blogs ireland irish irishblogs politics video [...]
November 1st, 2006 at 6:15 pm
I have added my comments also on my blog. This is an areas that I feel warrants much more attention that just a Garda presence.
http://bigsc.blogspot.com/2006/11/road-safety-its-everyones.html
November 2nd, 2006 at 9:38 pm
I’ve been living in Ireland now for the last 30 years (originally from the Netherlands) and after all that time i can come up with only these suggestions: stop political corruption so that politicians, look at real issues other than filling their pockets and trying to be popular.
Electorate open your eyes and see through the incredible bullshit that is served up to you on a day to day basis and especially in a period shortly before elections.
Demand enforcement of the law. which means at least another 1000 gardai, proper driving instruction by licenced ,trained instructors.
serious testing instead of the micky mouse testing of today
Stop defending your own kids when you know what they are doing on a week night or weekend night.
And if you claim not to know maybe its time to take an intererest.
Hire real, properly trained engineers to build roads but especially mark and sign post them properly. As of today marking and signposting is appaling and if it wasn’t so serious ‘an irish Joke’
roundabouts should be narrowed to one lane rather than widened to two or more lanes so that people cannot cross each others lanes on the round about.
Trafficlights should be properly synchronised etc. etc. etc. i can go on and on. Good luck councillor.
November 6th, 2006 at 9:26 am
jonny
November 15th, 2006 at 8:47 am
You should listen to some of the third level podcasts about Irish road carnage because there’s content in the emotive level of the voices that would resonate strongly on national airwaves. There’s material around the 13:30 point here:
http://podcasting.ie/podcast/raging-about-roads/
November 16th, 2006 at 10:00 am
[...] 5th, 2006 Irish road safety continued gaining traction as a major election issue and this week the p [...]
November 28th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
The overall standard of driving in Ireland is poor.
Currently there are around a third of people driving on our roads who have not passed a driving test, lack of awareness and lack of courtesy to other road users can be seen daily.
Standard of roads - surfaces, maintenance, signposts, bad junctions, blind spots etc., are also poor, not enough is being spent on a consistent basis to address this (except when we’re approaching an election - shame on those who abuse the funding in this way.)
We get fluffy high level policy documents from various agencies but very little co-ordinated action. The changeover to speed signs in Km/h has been farcical and totally inappropriate speed limits remain on country lanes.
Fast cars are in plentiful supply, even a 1990 hatchback can be tuned up and converted into a high speed performance vehicle, though of course they have very few of the more recent safety mechanisms.
Enforcement has been inconsistent to date, poorly funded and ad hoc. Hopefully recent news of more investment for the Traffic Corps will improve things, however it is not a panacea and only one measure in the overall scheme of things.
To date, transport policy has been poorly thought out and executed, roads and safety especially so.
This does not excuse the fact that we all have a responsibility to exercise care on the roads and to never risk the lives or wellbeing of others.
In other countries, survey after survey reveal that the main cause of accidents and fatalities on the roads are attributable to driver error, very few are down to mechanical issues.
Finger pointing or hand wringing will not help improve the situation, it is incumbent on ALL to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities on our roads.
Finally, this situation viewed from whatever angle is avoidable, it CAN and MUST be improved. Action is needed from top to bottom, start the debate, discuss the issues, agree what needs to be done, petition, lobby and keep this important topic in the spotlight, there is no better time to get it on the political agenda.
December 21st, 2006 at 7:28 pm
There was a major campaign to get people to wear their safety belts, it saves lives apparently. so you sit into a car, you put on your safety belt (and of course you have your airbag in front of you ready to save your life as well)and you head off driving in the knowledge that you are a lot safer now that your seat belt is fastened and your airbag is ready to explode. With this knowledge in the back of your mind, why not take a risk? why not go over the speed limit? you more than likely wont get caught (there are only 3 cameras and 120 Traffic Corps Gardai on duty covering 27,133 square miles), ok so if you live in West Mayo you DEFINETLY wont get caught. In that case you why not do the sensible thing (it is not a risk anymore because you are safe and you cant get caught) and drive the machine that you bought (which is capable of moving at 120 m/ph) at the speed you so choose (so if you are in a rush drive it as fast as it will go), remember if you crash,very important, you are safe (its those safety belts and airbags again). I just hope you havent hit a pedestrian or cyclist, you see they dont have the option of safety belts. Safety belts may safe lives, I wonder though if we took them out of cars would we save more. So that the next time you drive at 120 km/ph you will not have the comfort of a safety belt and airbag to protect you, and here is a thought, with the knowledge that your life is in danger, maybe you wont drive at 120 km/ph
December 21st, 2006 at 11:28 pm
Paul,
I’ve seen that subject raised before, in particular on the Freakonomics website. Two posts in particular mention it, but say that the safety benefit of Seat Belts far outweighs any reduction of safety from driver behaviour.
Not to say that drivers don’t drive worse due to seat belts, but that removing the seat belts wouldn’t lead to a reduction in fatalities.
http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/2005/07/18/which-would-you-rather-have-a-seat-belt-or-an-air-bag/
http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/2006/12/09/the-difference-between-theoretically-possible-and-important
January 14th, 2007 at 9:43 am
For 50 Euro a simple speed restrictor can be fitted to all under 25 drivers reducing the max speed they can drive. This whould be a good starting point to reduce one of the causes of road deaths.
Another issue is road marking. Cats eyes imrprove visability and and driving position on the road. On bad conors these sholud be red to warn drivers.
February 6th, 2007 at 12:51 am
if this is really happening then the government should have better training schools. then there would probably less traffic accidents because the people would be better trained.
February 7th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
[...] Link [...]
April 11th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
You take a very narrow minded viewpoint!
Penalties for some road traffic offences are extremely harsh and aracake aimed only at keeping some of the public happy without actually saving any lives on the roads. Statisitcs shows that young male drivers are the problem aer only trumped up to mak einsurance companies more money by charging higher rates to young males even though this constitutes discrimination.
Mybe if the Garda weren’t sitting around in there cars on safe and quite obvious check points, happy to fill their quota with harmless misdomeners instead of really tackling the poblems at hand, many of the deaths on our roads would be prevented.
May 2nd, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Here is a video made to raise awareness of road safety. It was produced by Bridgestone for a campaign to run in conjunction with this years Formula 1 grand prix in Bahrain.
Please watch it and share it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUFGthvMKmc
April 8th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I have been coming to Ireland from England on and off for nearly 20 years.
Even today I never cease to be amazed at the dreadful roads and the poor driving and no, I’m not an expert.
Road Safety is fundamentally about Prevention. Prevention, prevention, prevention. I know this because I am a Safety Advisor.
There is no 1 solution to the reduction of fatalities on Irish roads which we all know the numbers are and continue to be, quite appaling.
The solution is multi-faceted and there isnt enough space here to say everything i want to..but heres a starter.
(please remember that the words “should” and “if” are the biggest words in the english languauge when it comes to safety)
In no particular order:
Penalty Points system..not severe enough. e.g.Lose licence for 6 months..what about a min of a year ???
Vast improvement in the quality and design of Irish road systems including more segregation between pedestrians & vehicles. How long have you got.safety “engineered” e.g. crash barriers on the M1; theyve been around since the 1920’s !!
The complete abolition of a learner driver programme which allows a person TO DRIVE ON THEIR OWN WHEN THEY HAVENT PASSED THEIR TEST !! This addition to any solution is breathtakingly obvious.
Just imagine: if you were flying to Spain & the pilot came on and said “I’m not a pilot, but my Dad is and once Ive passed my test I’ll be qualified”..what would you do ???
Road signs..please.. Be Jeyzuz !! What more can I say ? More road signage…sometimes, plain & good effective signage in any safety function means youre 50% of the way there.
Also, more cats-eyes, chevrons,reflectors.
Drink-Driving in the UK is now classed as “anti-social” amongst the general public. Why can’t speeding and drink-driving be here ??
Minor roads: why no kerbing ? Is it cheap ? Kerbing reduces mud on roads, water flow and stops cars landing in ditches ! Mud/silt on roads produces slippy road surfaces and covers white road markings. Water produces aquapalning and slippy surfaces (ice ).
The Garda are only a small part of the answer. They tend to be the sticking plaster over the wound. We dont need a plaster …we need to PREVENT the wound occurring.
More transparency on the the safety features when buying a car e.g literature on european crash tests..more visible.
There’s more, but just to end now:
What about a simple bucket of quick drying paint and a brush to improve the poor or even non-existent road markings here ?? Its a start.
Tell the Government to wake up on this subject.
Save one life….save the World entire.
Irish Roads….”Putting the CAR into CARNAGE”
MA