Mobile speed cameras helping to cut road deaths

MOBILE speed cameras have been saving lives since they were introduced just over a month ago, a senior Garda official has claimed.

Assistant Garda Commissioner John Twomey pointed out that between November 16 and December 14, eight people were killed on Irish roads, compared to 27 over the same period last year.

The new cameras, installed in clearly marked vans, periodically monitor around 600 areas identified as black-spots for speed-related traffic collisions.

Asst Comm Twomey insisted there was a link between the introduction of the cameras as figures prior to the last cold snap showed a decrease in road deaths — from 22 to 6.

Speaking at the launch of the Christmas and New Year Road Safety Campaign, Asst Comm Twomey also pointed out there had also been a reduction of the number of people seriously injured since the cameras were introduced — from 54 to 19.

“We can say that there has been a reduction of 51 people killed and seriously injured since the introduction of safety cameras, but we cannot say what the real drivers are behind the statistics,” he said.

“We can say it is a reduction in speed. Anecdotally, and some degree of empirical evidence, says that there has been a reduction of speed across the network. The consequence of that reduction has been fewer people killed and seriously injured on our roads,” he said.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said that over the coming weeks gardaí would be putting a number of targeted operations in place to address unsafe behaviours on the road.

“We are not out there to catch people — we want to stop people endangering themselves and others on the roads through reckless, dangerous behaviour,” he said.

A total of 205 people have been killed in road collisions to date this year, compared to 232 over the same period last year — a 12% reduction.

Asst Comm Twomey urged people to take care over the festive period and said gardaí would be present on the roads throughout the country enforcing the law.

The campaign, supported by the Gardia Siochána and Road Safety Authority, was launched by President Mary McAleese at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

President McAleese urged people to take road safety really seriously.

“Don’t create any more victims. Understand how life can change in just the blink of an eye, in a moment — just one single second,” she said.

Chairman of the Road Safety Authority, Gay Byrne, said their message was simple — don’t take life for granted. “Stay safe on the roads and make sure you get home safely this Christmas,” he urged.

The RSA also launched a new series of Crashed Lives for television and radio that are true life accounts from people who have been affected by road collisions. The new series feature Siobhán O’Brien, a road traffic victim, Marjorie Flood, whose son, Mark, was killed on a night out, and Dr Áine Carroll, a consultant in rehabilitation medicine.