Road safety - Speed traps will stop young racers

IRELAND is fast becoming a nation of reckless boy racers, judging by the latest road safety report showing thousands of drivers are flagrantly breaking speed limits up and down the country.

Apparently, drivers are not just flouting the limit, they are speeding well in excess of restrictions. In some cases, dangerous motorists are turning the roads into race tracks, with speeds of more than 200km/h being recorded. This blatant disregard for the law underlines the urgent need to target drivers who are putting lives at risk.

Regrettably, the planned roll-out of speed cameras by private operators has now fallen back to next January at the earliest. With the tendering process set to be finalised next week, it will take more than five months to install 600 speed cameras countrywide.

Viewed against the backdrop of speeding on roads that have some of the worst fatality records in Europe, this time-lag is unacceptable.

The figures show that since last January, 26,000 drivers were caught speeding in 50km/h zones with 83% of them doing 70km/h. Of the 20,377 drivers caught in the 60km/h zone 76% drove at 80km/h.

Meanwhile, 89% of the 1,236 lunatic drivers caught speeding in the 120km/h zones were doing 140km/h or more. The latter statistic is a compelling reason for imposing restrictions on young drivers behind the wheels of souped-up cars.

Hopefully, gardaí will resist the temptation to concentrate on busy routes where up to now, motorists have been treated like fish in a barrel and the speed limit regarded as a convenient source of revenue.

There is a compelling case for speed cameras to be installed at known accident black spots. Local people will welcome the news that 300 cameras will be placed in such areas.

Meanwhile, the fatality rate among young drivers has been nearly halved this year compared with the same period last year, leading to calls for costly insurance premiums to be reduced, especially for young men who pay average premiums of about €1,500.

Based on the latest figures, the call warrants serious consideration. Since random breath testing was introduced a year ago this week, the death rate among young drivers has fallen dramatically.

According to the gardaí, 34 drivers aged between 16 and 35 lost their lives in the first six months of this year compared with 58 last year. Besides being fearful of random breath testing, it appears young people’s attitudes are changing, with passengers becoming more assertive about the danger of speeding.

Unfortunately, it seems older drivers, especially those over 65, are slower when it comes to changing old habits of drinking and driving. More random breath testing is the only way to change that culture.

But whether they are young or old, the message to speeding drivers has to be stressed — slow down.