Brennan has point to prove on cutting carnage

THE difference between promises and their fulfilment can often make or break a government.

If evidence of this core truth about political life was in doubt, one only had to witness this week's attempts by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to convince a sceptical electorate that they were delivering on their Programme for Government announced 12 months ago.

In much the same manner, one barometer for Séamus Brennan's performance as minister for transport will be the success or failure of his laudable attempts to reduce the high level of road deaths.

Although Ireland ranks mid-table in the EU league for fatalities, with 108 people killed per one million inhabitants, most acknowledge that the annual average of more than 400 fatal accidents each year is unacceptably high. (The EU average is 105 fatalities per million inhabitants, while the figure is 60 in Britain).

The Government's key initiative in tackling a problem which had seen 4,760 people die on roads in the period 1991-2001 was the introduction of the much heralded penalty points system last October.

Modelled on the version that has been in operation in the North for several years, penalty points have been hailed as the way ahead for road safety, especially after the Government failed to meet its own target of cutting road deaths by 20% over the past five years.

In theory, few can argue that the threat of a driver being disqualified for up to six months upon amassing a dozen penalty points within a three-year period does not act as a deterrent to bad and dangerous driving.

However, there is real concern that the manner in which the system has been implemented has diluted much of its potential.

For a start, it took more than four years from the time penalty points were first approved by the Fianna Fáil-PD coalition until they were put into practice.

After several false dawns, the first penalty points were issued over the October bank holiday weekend last year.

But even then, their introduction was the subject of controversy after garda representative bodies claimed the system should have been postponed because of ongoing difficulties with the garda computerised system called PULSE.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has since continued to voice its opposition to any further

expansion of penalty points in the absence of a fully-working computerised system.

To date, points are only being issued for two of the 62 offences planned under the system speeding and driving without insurance although failure to wear seat belts will be added to the list from July 1.

And only another eight offences are due to be added within the next 12 months.

AGSI president Joe Dirwan has already branded the current operation of the scheme as "wasteful of garda resources" and "excessively bureaucratic and unworkable."

On that basis, it probably comes as no great surprise to learn in an Irish Examiner report today that there is already a backlog of some 20,000 drivers who have to be notified of their offence.

The figure represents almost 90% of the total number of drivers who have incurred penalty points since their introduction seven months ago.

If, for whatever reason, such drivers are not processed within six months of the date of the offence, they cannot be issued with penalty points an eventuality that would cause Mr Brennan some considerable political embarrassment.

Individual gardaí have complained that the existing system of manually entering data on penalty points has tied them unnecessarily to their desks at a time when there are widespread calls for a more visible garda presence on the streets to tackle public order offences.

Although initial reports suggested that penalty points had resulted in a dramatic change in driving habits, recent statistics suggest that many of us have already begun to revert to our old bad ways.

While the number of road deaths fell by about 22% since October, a 50% rise in the number of people killed in road traffic accidents last month compared to May 2002 hints that judgment must be reserved on its long-term effectiveness.

Although there were supposedly more than 5,500 garda checkpoints over the recent June bank holiday as part of the highly publicised Operation Taisteal, anecdotal evidence would suggest that they are far more infrequent on ordinary weekdays.

This Dublin-based journalist recently drove about 1,000 miles during a week-long holiday in Cork and Kerry, incorporating a bank holiday weekend, and only encountered one garda roadblock, where officers were solely interested in up-to-date insurance and tax discs.

Coupled with recent revelations by Fine Gael transport spokesperson Denis Naughten that there are only three fixed speed cameras in operation at any one time, it is inevitable that some drivers will calculate that they can afford to speed with a minimal risk of getting penalised.

With gardaí trumpeting Operation Taisteal in advance, motorists will naturally slow down to avoid detection.

However, it is questionable whether penalty points will have any long-term effect on bad driving habits, especially speeding, if gardaí don't retain the element of surprise.

There are also other areas likely to cause public resentment about the manner in which penalty points have been implemented.

Some commentators have already been highly critical of the legislation which imposes a double penalty on convicted drivers who challenge the fine in court.

There are also many other uncertainties about the legislation, while the motoring public will also have cause to grumble if those without penalty points are not rewarded with lower insurance costs.

The question must also be posed why the gardaí issued more than 272,000 speeding fines in 2001 but so far have only sent 23,400 notifications of points on driving licences since October?

Can it all be explained by motorists suddenly adhering to speed limits far better than in the past?

Despite its best ambitions and the introduction of penalty points, the Government will be hard-pressed to fulfil the EU Road Safety Action Programme targets set by the EU Transport Commissioner, Loyola de Palacio this week, which aims to reduce road deaths across Europe by 50% before 2010.

Like many other areas of legislation, the effectiveness of penalty points will ultimately be judged on enforcement of the rules of the road.

While well-intentioned, one is left with the distinct impression that Mr Brennan burnt some rubber to get the penalty points legislation up and running without checking on how well he could steer the plan through in its entirety.