Saturday, November 21, 2009 Previous editions
Thursday, November 05, 2009
THREE tragedies. Three daughters lost. Three families looking for answers.
All of them died on what the families say are substandard Irish roads.
But despite investigations and court actions, nobody has been found responsible.
Instead, the families have been given the runaround and ignored by those who should be able to do something.
In a desperate effort to get the Government to take action, the families of the victims brought their case to the European Parliament’s petitions committee.
Each told of how their young daughters were tragically killed on Irish roads, of the efforts they have made since to find out the truth and to change the way our road safety is managed.
"We are just trying to find answers. If the truth is established we can get some closure. But nobody can tell us where the responsibility lies," Sean Farren from Carndonagh, Co Donegal, told the committee, adding that none of the families were looking for revenge or money.
Roads expert Tommy Gallagher’s daughter Aisling was killed when her car went out of control on a road where the Dense Bitumen Macadam (DBM) did not have a top layer but had been painted and marked as though it was finished.
"This DBM smoothes and polishes with wear and was never designed as a top cover. But this is widely ignored throughout Ireland, as the High Court was told recently," said the Achill man.
Ireland has some of the most stringent laws regulating drivers and their vehicles, but the third element in road safety — the roads — are ignored.
"Our Road Safety Authority has no remit over the safety of the roads and nobody accepts responsibility for this," he said.
Kay Keane lost her 24-year-old daughter, Eileen, in 2006, near Listowel. "The grief and loss is overwhelming to this day," she told the committee.
She called for a change to the whole approach of investigating road accidents. Gardaí investigate to see if they should bring a criminal charge, but nobody investigates why the accident happened and what should be done about it.
"For three-and-a-half years we struggled against all the laws that seem to be in place to protect those who might be responsible. We are not entitled to information from the gardaí or from Kerry County Council because of restrictions under the Freedom of Information Act," she said.
European Commission official Gilles Bergot said the EU law that will come into force in 2010 ensuring safety audits for roads will only apply to trans-European networks. "We regret it is not possible to extend it to other road networks," he said.
Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins proposed that the issue be referred to the European Parliament’s Transport Committee and he was supported by three other Irish MEPs; Marian Harkin, Sean Kelly and Joe Higgins.
They would hope to prepare a report to put pressure on the EU and national governments to introduce road safety audits.
The Petitions Committee has no legal powers but is used to highlight issues.
* The new EU road safety action programme for 2011-2020 is being prepared and they have asked citizens to contribute their ideas via the website http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/consultations/2009_11_20_ersap_2011_2020_en.htm
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