Road fines fall amid patrol level fears

Fixed charge notices issued for speeding offences decline 9%

Data showing large-scale falls in the number of fixed charge notices issued to motorists in 2014 have raised fears of lower levels of enforcement by gardaí.

The latest statistics published on the Garda website show almost 187,000 motorists were fined for speeding last year — a 9% decrease on 2013 figures.

There was a 20% fall-off in the number of motorists caught driving without a seatbelt — down 2,462 to 9,562 — and a 15% drop in detection of motorists caught using a mobile phone while driving — down 4,271 to 24,667.

The number of dangerous driving incidents fell by 41% to just over 2,000, while 17,576 vehicles were detained under Section 41 of the Road Traffic Act — a drop of 13%.

The Road Safety Authority said it was difficult to give a definitive response as to why the figures for fixed charge notices were in decline. However, RSA chief executive Moyagh Murdoch said it would be “of great concern” if the trend was linked to a fall in the size of the Garda Traffic Corps.

The number of gardaí working in the specialist traffic division has fallen from 1,200 in 2009 to approximately 750.

Ms Murdoch acknowledged the decline might signal that a greater number of road users were complying with their legal requirements. However, she claimed the wider context of the fall in the number of personnel in the Garda Traffic Corps indicated the two trends might be linked.

“A highly visible presence of gardaí on the road, plus the fear of enforcement, is the single biggest factor in changing people’s behaviour when using the road,” said Ms Murdoch.

She expressed concern that the RSA’s research showed there was a perception among a significant majority of people that there are not enough gardaí enforcing road safety laws.

Two out of five of those surveyed by the RSA believe enforcement levels have declined over the past year.

Ms Murdoch called for the extra resources for the Garda Traffic Corps to be prioritised with the allocation of new recruits which recently began training.

The latest Garda figures also show there was a 34% decrease in the detection of offences relating to heavy goods vehicles in 2014.

Meanwhile, the European Transport Safety Council claims that progress on road safety has ground to a halt in Europe after road deaths in the EU fell by 1% last year.

The organisation, of which the RSA is a member, said the drastic slowdown in the cutting road fatalities put the EU’s target of halving road deaths by 2020 at risk.

“While there is no single factor that explains the deeply worrying figures, there is no doubt that, in recent years, the EU and many member states have shifted road safety way down the priority list,” said ETSC executive director Antonio Avenoso.

“If you cut back on police enforcement and road maintenance, if you don’t do enough to protect the increasing numbers of people walking and cycling and if you ignore new trends such as distraction, it’s obvious that the number dying will not just stagnate, they will start to increase.”

Mr Avenoso said boosting police enforcement levels would have an immediate effect on road safety.