Roads safer despite six deaths, says authority
Since August, the upward trend in road fatalities has been partially halted and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) says efforts to make the country’s roads safer are not in vain.
RSA spokesman Brian Farrell said this year the number of accidents has been substantially reduced although it is hard to compare with other years because there have been a large number of multiple fatalities.
He said: “You cannot lessen such a loss of life and six road deaths is a significant tragedy. (But) the weekend’s fatalities should be viewed against the backdrop that for August, September and so far in October the total number of road deaths is below the normal average.
“There are actually 20 fewer fatal crashes this year which suggests that our roads are getting safer.”
However, he said the accidents this weekend hammered home the reality that the driving habits of young men posed the greatest risk to life.
The latest attempt to address this aspect of road safety comes into effect today when the number of questions liable to be asked during the Driver Theory Test increases.
From this morning applicants for a full licence will be asked questions drawn from a bank of 1,250.
Meanwhile, Dublin man Paul Stokes will this afternoon announce his desire to develop a technology-based Road Accident Prevention System.
In August Mr Stokes secured the patent for a system that links global positioning systems, in-car cameras, broadband technology and a centrally based super-computer which would could in theory make it impossible for two cars to collide.
He said: “The technology is there, Volkswagen can show how they can drive a car without any driver and this can be done with the proper super-computer.
“This could be the beginning of the end of road accidents if it gets the proper support and if the Irish Government is willing to back it.”
The RSA says technological developments must be driven by car makers.
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