Traffic corps plan shelved by cutbacks

PLANS to establish a special traffic corps to curb carnage on the roads early next year has been shelved following Government cutbacks.

Transport Minister Séamus Brennan had promised that the new force would be in operation early 2003.

The Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) yesterday criticised the delay and said a permanent unit was vital if deaths on the road were to be reduced.

A spokesman for the minister, however, said Mr Brennan was determined to establish the corps and will have meetings in the coming weeks to decide on the likely shape of the force.

No funds were provided for a traffic corps in last week’s budget estimates, but a spokesman said the minister may apply for additional funds during the year to help establish the force.

Irish Insurance Federation chief executive Michael Kemp said motorists would only begin to take laws on the road seriously once they were properly enforced. “In relation to any offence, people think they have a zero to 5% chance of being caught. Irrespective of penalties, such as points, fines or even jail, that’s not much of a deterrent if the chances of getting caught are perceived to be low,” he said.

Plans to establish a traffic corps are contained in the Programme for Government, and it is still unclear whether it will use gardai or draw on private personnel.

A spokesman for the minister said these issues would be thrashed out in the coming weeks. He also said a traffic force could be rolled out over a period of time, rather than waiting for a national traffic corps to be established.

Plans for the force, announced by the minister last summer, included high--visibility vehicles all over the country, which would be identifiably separate from ordinary garda cars.

The IIF has been campaigning for a traffic corps and says it has been proved to dramatically reduce road deaths in other countries.

Mr Kemp said the Australian state of Victoria had a similar level of road death to Ireland, but this was halved when such a force was introduced.

The IIF, which contributes 1m a year to the National Safety Council, says safety campaigns need to be backed up by rigorous enforcement of the law.

A five-year plan, which included shock TV adverts, aimed at cutting road deaths by 20% has, for example, only resulted in a 13% drop.