Failing to protect pedestrians

WE hear a lot about child abuse, but ignore a systemic form of abuse — deprivation of the right of children and adolescents to travel, because traffic has become far too dangerous and there are no provisions to walk in safety.

When I was a child, we would play unsupervised in the street and everyone would walk to school unaccompanied, but nowadays children and adolescents have to be chauffeured everywhere. No wonder they are so fat.

Teenagers would cycle or walk distances considered superhuman by today’s standards, but now, unless they can get a lift, with no public transport, they are prisoners in their own homes. You have to be brave or stupid to risk your life walking on rural roads, and nowhere is cycling safe.

Instead of trying to reduce danger; the RSA and the Garda Síochána blame the victims, claiming they need “educating” although according to the RSA’s own figures 87% of pedestrian fatalities are the fault of drivers. But no amount of education is going to save someone from a driver who is careless, speeding or has lost control.

According to gardaí “the only way to be seen by motorists is to wear reflective clothing”. The new AA/RSA Rules of the Road states “pedestrians are extremely difficult to see” and the RSA refuses to accept that a driver would be assumed to be responsible if he ran down a pedestrian who was walking quite legally and properly along the side of the road.

But the fact is, very few pedestrians do wear reflective clothing. It is not a legal requirement. However, it is a legal requirement for motorists to drive within headlight range and to look where they are going; if they do not, they will kill or injure someone.

Road authorities are complicit; the convenience of motorists is far more important than the safety of vulnerable road users. So are the courts, who consider this form of homicide as a trivial offence, even when there is a conviction of dangerous driving.

Fortunately, most drivers ignore this encouragement to drive irresponsibly. By blaming innocent victims and failing in their duty of care, these authorities are just as guilty of child abuse as church officials who tried to cover up the sexual abuse of children by priests.

Michael Job

Glengarriff

Co Cork