'Young drivers should be tested on rural roads as well as urban ones'

Councillors also believe cutting speed limits alone is not the answer amid mounting death toll on roads

Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Looney pointed out that young drivers do not get out into the countryside where they are often confronted with hazards such as overgrown roadside verges.

Young drivers should be tested on narrow country roads and not just urban areas in a move to improve road safety.

That is according to Cork county councillors, who are also demanding that the Government reverse its decision to simply reduce speed limits on many urban and rural routes amid the mounting death toll on the country’s roads.

While many councillors acknowledged something must be done to reduce the increase of deaths and serious injuries caused by crashes, they believe cutting speed limits on its own is not the solution.

Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Looney pointed out that young drivers are mainly tested in urban areas where road conditions are better, but they do not get out into the countryside where they are often confronted with narrower roads, more bends, large farm machinery, overgrown roadside verges, and unexpected encounters with straying farm animals.

Skibbereen-based Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll said while roads in West Cork are substandard, cutting speed limits on certain main roads from 100km/hr to 80km/hr and more rural ones from 80km/hr to 60km/hr would mean some people in West Cork “will now have to get up the night before” if they want to travel a major distance.

Mr Carroll insisted that a more prudent step would be better implementation of existing laws.

Gearóid Murphy, a barrister and Fianna Fáil councillor, said more study should be done before proposals for widespread cuts to speed limits are implemented.

Independent councillor Frank Roche, who is an agricultural haulier, agreed that young drivers need to be better trained to handle rural roads, many of which are substandard.

Fine Gael councillor Kevin Murphy said the proposed decreases in speed limits are bound to fail if they are not enforced by gardaí, which is of major concern as Garda roads policing numbers have fallen in recent years.

“If gardaí are not there to enforce them there’s no point in bringing them in,” he said.

Green councillor Alan O’Connor, however, maintained that lowering speed limits is good for safety as the lower they are, the less fatalities and serious injuries occur.

Mayor of County Cork, Fianna Fáil councillor Frank O’Flynn, said that the Government should introduce mandatory hi-viz wearing for all walkers outside urban areas after dark to reduce pedestrian deaths.