Motorway pile-up has lessons for us all

RECENTLY the country experienced its first major motorway pile-up on the M7/M9.

Fortunately, we do not see this type of event very often, but as our road network expands more work needs to be done to reduce the frequency and impact of these events.

Regular motorway users know that what happened that foggy morning near Naas almost happens every morning.

Unfortunately, when a particular set of circumstances occur at the same time, carnage can be the result.

So who is to blame? Certainly drivers to a greater of lesser extent.

However, it is wrong to blame them entirely — as the media and gardaí seemed to do — for the pile-up.

Whatever about the media view, it would be dangerous for State agencies to think drivers alone were to blame and allow themselves to be lulled into a false sense of security in the belief they had nothing to learn from this pile-up in which, unfortunately, one young mother lost her life.

In other countries, motorway movement is monitored and controlled. Large electronic screens, controlled from centres where movement is being monitored over long distances, regulate the speed of traffic, thus reducing the risk of an incident.

While this is not guaranteed to stop pile-ups, it does reduce the number of serious injury cases because any crash will be at reduced speeds.

In this country we are all too well aware of the combination of incompetence and arrogance on our roads, but there are other problems that need to be addressed.

As our motorway system expands, every effort must be made to reduce risk.

All of us must learn from the circumstances that led to the potentially catastrophic accident in Co Kildare.

Of course drivers must play their part. They should have the same respect for the road that seafarers have for the sea.

Seán Murtagh

Clover Hill

Dooradoyle

Limerick