Byrne: Funding for speed cameras will save lives

THE Road Safety Authority (RSA) has warned that more lives will be lost on the roads unless the Government confirms funding for the provision of speed cameras in today’s budget.

RSA chairman Gay Byrne has expressed concern about “hiccups” and delays to the planned introduction of the scheme which was first announced five years ago.

Mr Byrne said confirmed funding for the speed camera programme would be an indication that the Government remained committed to keeping road safety as one of its main priorities.

The Government has already missed the target date of June 2008 under its own Road Safety Strategy for the introduction of privatised speed cameras to provide 6,000 hours of enforcement per month due to concerns within the Department of Justice over the cost of the scheme.

Although it is understood that negotiations are ongoing about signing a formal contract for the rollout of the speed camera programme, it is unlikely to be fully implemented until late 2009 at the earliest.

Speaking at an RSA conference to mark European Road Safety Day, Mr Byrne said speed cameras were “a very important component of our five-year strategy”.

“If implemented on time and in sequence they will undoubtedly save lives on our roads,” he said.

Mr Byrne welcomed the downward trend in traffic fatalities which has seen the number of people killed on Irish roads so far in 2008 fall to 227 — down 36 on the matching figure last year.

Assistant Garda Commissioner Eddie Rock also revealed that the vast majority of motorists caught speeding are travelling in excess of 20km/h above the legal speed limit.

The senior officer who has responsibility for the Garda National Traffic Bureau said he was anxious to dismiss the perception that gardaí were targeting motorists just over the limit.

“Less than 1% of motorists caught speeding in 50km/h, 60km/h and 80km/h speed zones are going at speeds less than 10km/h over the limit,” he remarked.

Public health expert Dr Declan Bedford called for the legal drink-driving limit to be reduced as promised under the Government’s Road Safety Strategy after research showed that alcohol was a factor in a third of all road collisions between 2003 and 2005.

Dr Bedford pointed out that another third of drivers in such accidents were never tested for alcohol, which suggested the true role of alcohol in road fatalities was still underestimated.