15% of drivers travel 20km over limit

PEOPLE involved in a car crash at 80km/h are 20 times more likely to die than those in an accident at 32km/h, road safety experts heard yesterday.

And three out of 20 motorists regularly travel at high-risk speeds of more than 20km/h above legal speed limits, research has shown. Some 14% of drivers generally drive at high-risk speeds, with 15% of motorists travelling in excess of 20km/h above speed limits, delegates at a major road safety conference heard.

Professor Ray Fuller of the School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, said 90% of this high-risk group were male drivers with an average age of 26.

He told a conference in Dublin organised by the National Roads Authority that speed was a contributory factor in 12% of road accidents and 30% of all fatal road accidents.

Prof Fuller said two high-risk groups of so-called “boy racers” had also been identified in Donegal and the Cavan/Meath area. Such drivers, who get a thrill from speeding, needed to be specifically targeted to encourage them to engage in more responsible behaviour, said Prof Fuller.

He said only 15% of pedestrians survive being struck by a vehicle at 64km/h, compared to 95% of those hit by a car at 32km/h.

“Research has consistently shown that drivers will travel at speeds which they feel is reasonable and safe, regardless of the speed limit.”

He said it was understandable that compliance with speed limits was weak where motorists felt they were set at too low a limit. Prof Fuller said complaints about a 60km/h limit on sections of the N11 Dublin-Wexford road could be addressed by providing greater information to road users.

“Local authorities could place signs such as ‘frequent junctions’ to explain speed limits which are not obvious to drivers,” said Prof Fuller.

The traffic specialist said recent studies had also shown that women were less likely to speed because they were more responsive emotionally when driving.

“It means women are more aware of potential disasters as they are more concerned about not causing harm to others,” he said.

Meanwhile, Professor Des O’Neill, a gerontologist at TCD and Tallaght Hospital called for the removal of obligatory screening for older drivers.

Motorists aged 70 or over are required to renew their licence at a minimum of every three years following separate medical and eye tests. Prof O’Neill claimed screening reduced the mobility of many older people by turning them into pedestrians and cyclists where they were more likely to be involved in a fatal accident.